


Connect Four

by AmazingSarcasm



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017), Riverdale (TV 2017) RPF
Genre: Also everyone's going through some shit in this thing, And Betty, And things handled waaaayyy better, Bisexuality is a thing, But also did or didn't she fuck her brother????, Cheryl is a bitch but she'll get some love probably, Don't Worry About It, F/F, F/M, FUCK GERALDINE GRUNDY YALL, Honestly everyone needs a hug, M/M, Mention of Parental Verbal Abuse, Multi, Not always happy times, OT4, Pansexuality is a thing, Polyamory, Riverdale Is Awful but Here I Am, So it'll be mostly like Riverdale but with things added and taken out for the relationship, Someone needs to hug Jughead, and veronica, mention of alcoholism, mention of drug use, mention of sexual harassment, there's gonna be smut, too - Freeform, who fucking knows
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-01 09:47:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 42,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11483844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmazingSarcasm/pseuds/AmazingSarcasm
Summary: Basically the same plot as Riverdale just more Gay and Polyamorous





	1. Beginnings

It started with Jason Blossom.

Well, to be technical about it, it started with both Cheryl and Jason Blossom. On July 4th, 2016, at Sweetwater River.

Or earlier, depending on if you're the type of person who would say "Oh, But this wouldn't have happened if they wouldn't have ever been born" or some sort of bullshit like that. Not to say that you're wrong, none of this would have happened if the Blossom Twins had been born, but it also wouldn't have been this way if their Great Grandpa wasn't so utterly obsessed with maple syrup and making a quick buck, or if their parents were a little less psycho. But it did. So here we are.

Great. Moving on. July 4th.

Cheryl and her brother, Jason, had decided to go down to Sweetwater River on Independence day for a little boat ride. At like 6 am. Because they're apparently morning people. The details are.. hazy. But the basic story goes like this:

While on this boat ride, Cheryl has “accidentally” dropped her expensive Egyptian cotton white glove in the river and, instead of just telling her to buy a new one with the thousands of dollars their family had, Jason went to pluck the now dirty and obviously ruined by the river’s nasty polluted glove from the current, promptly capsizing the boat cause he's apparently a fucking idiot.

Now Cheryl made it to the shore, but Jason was no where to be found.

After being found by a bunch of kids and some survivalist nerd, who then probably went around town yelling “I JUST FOUND CHERYL BLOSSOM ON A THE SIDE OF A RIVER AND NOW AM HEROICALLY RETURNING HER TO HER PARENTS SEE I'M NOT CRAZY” Or something senile like that, Cheryl and her parents contacted the authorities and searched the river for Jason's body. But they found nothing. Nothing, except for one Egyptian cotton glove, and a few condoms.

Cheryl, still wet from the river, wrapped the towel a bit tighter around herself and gazed across the river. Her face said she was struck with grief, but her eyes said she felt something more… tragic. She repeated the story countless times throughout the day to her parents and the police officers. After the sweep of the river, the Blossom family stepped off of the boat, supposably heart broken by the fact that they couldn't find the body, but really more stone faced than they should have been.

By this time, half the town was already at the riverside, waiting for the chance to behold a real dead body, or watched with delight as the Blossoms made their retreat back to their probably haunted Mansion. Alice and Hal Cooper, the retired “Mean Girl” couple of the town, stood side by side as the Blossoms got off of the boat. Hal with his eyes on the river, and Alice with her eyes narrowed at the Blossoms as they passed through the police tap. Alice leaned towards her husband, eyes stuck to the family, and whispered “If he is dead, Hal, I hope in those last moments he suffered. May Jason Blossom burn in hell”, with a little too much venom in her voice for a middle aged women talking about a supposedly dead 17 year old boy, especially with the family close by.

She gets worse, in case you were wondering.

The following week, the Blossom family would bury an empty casket, unable to find Jason’s body. And just kinda assuming he was dead at this point from drowning or something.

From then on, the town would never be the same

Actually, this was a lie. This town that we find ourselves in is called Riverdale. A town of “pep!” apparently. Founded mostly on a maple syrup industry and stylistically stayed in the 1950s. Minus all that racism bullshit. Kinda. Mostly. There's a black female mayor that comes around sometimes but is hardly talked about.

There's even a cool diner and drive in theater, just like Grease!

So the town itself wouldn't change. Why should anyone expect an entire town to just suddenly be different after the death of one teenager? It wouldn't, of course.

But the people in it sure would.

Cause everyone's a fucking gossip.

That summer would change every single person in that town’s life. From the mayor’s daughter to the highschool football coach’s son, to a nerdy “overweight” girl and that one stereotypical gay kid that is honestly slaying life but also dying right now. All of it was going to change. But none more than the lives of these five main families. 

The Blossoms, the Coopers, the Andrews, the Jones, and the Lodges. 

Speaking of which, a old/new family is on their way to Riverdale. 

It's the last day of summer, around 7:30pm, and one could almost taste the tears of the children who were going to be going back to school come morning. All the while, a sleek black car has just pulled up in front of a very expensive looking apartment building, with expensive looking gold letters spelling “The Pembrook” attached to a strip of stone running across an enormous archway. With even bigger numbers “330” plastered underneath them of course. From the car emerged a girl with waved raven hair, olive toned skin and a very Breakfast at Tiffany's styled dark blue dress. Pearls adorned her sleek neck, and her lips tinted a red-ish purple color. And her eyebrows were so even and sharp every YouTube beauty guru just shivered. The air around her was thick with economic growth, those beautiful lips of hers wearing a timid smile. She stared at the building in front of her with a whole array of feelings. Excitement, fear, nervousness, and determination.

As she stared, her mother, a woman with the same kind of silky raven hair but with light twinges of grey and just a couple of inches longer, walked to her side. She also had the same kind of dress on, which was either a coincidence or just bad planning on their part.

“Now brace yourself,” her mother said, “The apartment is small, a pied-a-terre...” A phrase here that means it's a small apartment that's only supposed to be used on occasion, but french and dripping with obscene richness.

“But,” The woman continued, “Of course-"   
“Quality, always.” the girl finished for her mother. They smiled at each other, and walked into the building.

Once inside the obviously not small apartment lobby, they were greeted by a bellhop that looked like he had been doing this alone, none stop for forty years. “Ms.Hermione.” The bellhop said with a smile and a bow.

“Smithers!! Aren't you a sight for sore eyes,” exclaimed the older woman, who apparently had her name stolen from a fucking Harry Potter character, as she quickly made her way to the kind and appropriately named bellhop to give him a quick kiss on the cheek and a nice hug. 

“Any troubles getting here Madam?” Smithers asked politely, as if there was something he could do for their trip now that it was over.

“No traffic, thank god” gushed Hermione with a small sigh. She put her hand on her daughter's shoulder, “Smithers, I would like for you to meet my daughter, Veronica.” She said with a smile. The girl, with the perfect “I’m-Different-and-I-want-to-stand-out-but-not-really” name, smiled politely at Smithers and offered her manicured hand in greeting,

“Hi "

Smithers shook her hand with a smile. “A pleasure, Miss.Veronica" He turned back to Hermione. "Shall I get the bags Madame?” 

“Yes please!” She exclaimed as she took in her surroundings. Smithers nodded and headed towards the door, his boots squeaked against the polished floor.

“Would you care for some take out menus for dining in tonight, Ma'am?” Smithers asked as he turned away from the door.

“Oh no,” Hermione grinned, “I’ve been graving one of Pop Tate’s burgers since this morning. Is his Chock-lit shoppe still open?” She asked. At the word “Chock-lit”, which sounded an awful lot like chocolate, Veronica became confused.

“Um, excuse me” she chirped, her tone slightly bratty, “What exactly is a Chock-lit shoppe and why does it sell burgers?”

Alrighty backstory time that's gonna be like a time jump because I'm Lazy and started this fic on impulse. 

Veronica Lodge had always been a very... Spoiled girl since birth. She had been born to Hermione and Harum Lodge, highschool sweethearts with a multimillion dollar business called Lodge Industries. She had lived in New York for most of her life, getting by on her beauty, money, sharp wit and bitchin’ attitude. She took absolutely no shit from anyone ever. She was one of the head cheerleaders at her highschool, with the other top cheerleader being and equally privilege girl named Daphne, who also happened to be Veronica's girlfriend. 

Yeah, Veronica's hella gay.

Wait.. She also had a boyfriend named Charlie. Was that before or after Daphne? Trick question, it was neither. They all dated at the same time.

Veronica is extremely bisexual and polyamorus. They were all basically models and millionaires. And she loved them more than she thought possible. 

Also I forgot to mention they were all fucking Freshmen and they ruled the fucking school like what the hell.

A trip and a half, no doubt. 

Life for Veronica was perfect, she had everything she has ever wanted. That is, until her father was arrested for tax evasion and a bunch of sketchy Trump kind of shit. Then she had nothing. Pretty much everything was taken from the Lodge family, even the clothes off of their backs, as rumor had it. Veronica lost everything, her money, which led to Charlie and Daphne breaking up with her (who knew you could end up with two golddiggers at the same time, right? Especially when they didn't even need the money, talk about dickwads), much to her heartbreak. She received hate mail daily, telling her that she was a stuck up bitch that deserves everything she had coming to her. 

Which, in all fairness, she kind of did. 

Veronica Lodge wasn't a nice person.

Not even relatively nice, at least not to those around her.

At least, she wasn't back then. And once this whole scandal went down, she found herself alone. Afraid, alone, and full of depression. To which, at that point, she promised to start remaking her image, become a better person. Never take what she was given for granted, because who knows how long it'll last. So when she heard that her mother had an apartment in her home town, she was delighted for the brand new start. 

So, here she was. Ready to start moving on from her past. Start treating people with more respect, make some new friends, find a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend. Or both, she wouldn't be too picky. Who knows what this town has in store for her? 

Oh Boy, did it have some shit in store for her. 

But lets meet the rest of the dream team, shall we? 

Earlier that same day, one Betty Cooper had returned from her internship with some big important business no one really knows unless they're into that sort of thing. 

Where she had one crazy fucking summer.

Let me fucking _tell_ you about it.

So her first day was all anxiety and butterflies. Betty had popped a little bit of that Ritalin her mother wants her to take but never actually does, hoping it'll calm her nerves for awhile so she doesn't throw up on her new fancy boss. It only half worked, but it made it easier to navigate the streets on her way over. 

She makes it there with 10 minutes to spare. So good for her. 

She tells the receptionist lady that she's here, and the lady brings her to a room with the other summer interns, all in business attire and looking either way to confident or about ready to jump out of the gigantic windows that gave a pleasant view of the neighboring buildings and the busy street about, give or take, 40 stories below them? It was hard to tell. They all sat around a large, oval shapes table made of oak. The place reeked of business and crushed dreams. 

The last available chair was between a boy and a girl. To the left of the chair was the boy, probably of Asian decent, looking like he was going to spontaneously combust on the spot if Betty so much as looked at him for too long.

Betty would learn that this boy’s name is Lin, he was adopted from China by two beautiful lesbians when he was two. Also he was the most Stunning youth drag queen around. Lin would usually be full of confidence by now, just about bursting with homosexual energy, but in the elevator he had overheard a very homophobic conversation between two very important looking business men. And I mean near Death Threats. So he had decided to change that flamboyant confidence for some “So-far-in-the-closet-that-he-found-a-powdered-wig” meekness. But as Betty would eventually get to know him, he would teach her more about makeup style than she ever thought possible. He reminded her of her friend Kevin back in Riverdale, but more on that later.

On her right, Betty found herself sitting next to a girl close to her age with long, stick straight black hair and stormy grey eyes. She had wonderfully high cheekbones and a sharp jawline, and was honestly pulling off a pants suit better than any female politicians could. She looked like she wasn't going to take any shit from anyone. 

If Betty were different, she'd call the girl hot.

Like goddess level hot. 

Like Betty was ready to sell her soul to her just to be near her, kind of hot. 

Like if she told Betty to drop to her knees right now and just ate her out, she probably tasted just as good as chocolate. And Betty would probably do just that, if she asked. 

Probably…

Wait what?

Pushing whatever just happened in her head aside, Betty quickly shook herself out and tried to stop staring. She was one of the confident ones, who seemed very angry at that. Who knows why, just that teenage angst probably. Betty, swallowing her fear and very sudden attraction, smiled politely at her as she sat down in the chair , “Hello,” she greeted. The girl look up from her lap and looked at Betty, and it was as if she'd greeted a whole different person. The storms in her eyes parted, and her smile was like literal sunbeams, and Betty felt her face flush and her heart beat like, 5 times faster.

Seriously? What the hell?? She's so cute???

“Hey there, My name is Ashley. What's yours?” the goddess, named Ashley, spoke in the kind of tone that made you both want to melt on the spot, but also listen to it and live by it. Religiously. 

As Betty continued to stare at her in complete awe, Ashley stretched out a hand for her to shake, and Betty tried to put two coherent thoughts together as she took Ashley's hand in hers and moved her arm up and down. Robotically. “I-I’m Betty,” Betty managed to get out before she was left utterly speechless by the sound of Ashley's giggle.

“I love that name. Betty, it's so cute!” Ashley commented sweetly, and Betty swears that she forgot how to breathe for like, five seconds.

Betty tried to make her tongue move to form actual English words to compliment her back in a way that didn't sound too desperate or too weird or something, when the door opened behind them, and their bosses walked in with and air of authority. Three of them to be exact. Betty tore her eyes away to pay attention to the three of them. Two women, and one man. _Focus,_ Betty mentally chided herself, _Deal with whatever that was later._

And she would.

Because she was teamed up to work with Ashley on pretty much everything.

And she was staying in the room across from hers back at the hotel she was staying at. 

Like I said,

Fucking _crazy_  

 _Anyways_. 

As luck would have it, Betty and Ashley would become really good friends. Spending so much time with each other does that to you. Lin, who they also worked with a bit and lived in the room under Betty’s, also grew close to both of them. Some nights they'd have sleepovers where they'd talk about makeup and books and their lives back home. As she thought of home, Betty's mind drifted to Archie, her best friend since preschool and long term crush. Suddenly, thinking about Archie made her feel kind of… guilty. Like she was cheating on him with Ashley or something. But that's crazy right? She wasn't gay or bi or whatever, she was straight and attracted to guys. Dicks and balls. 

Right? 

Besides, it wasn't too much like she wanted to take Ashley out to Pop’s for a milkshake or anything. Kinda… just a little bit. It was mostly just how beautiful she was. The way her hair fell so perfect around her face and her lips.

Gods, her _lips_. 

Yeah maybe not so straight. 

What a shocker, she owed Kevin 10 bucks. 

(Yes, Betty bet of her own sexuality, don't fucking judge. She never thought it was actually a thing anyways, just a joke. But now she was kind of bummed that she wasn't going to get some of that cash money at the start of the school year).

Back to Reality.

Ashely was as just as hard of a worker as Betty was, which really did well for their reputation, and was what prompted the board to give both Betty and Ashley the Toni Morrison book release party to organize. 

Betty, being Morrison’s like, biggest fan ever, was just glowing with excitement.

Ashley wasn't a huge fan, but she cared enough about Betty to give a shit about it. 

So they worked harder than ever, growing closer and closer each hour as the days rolled by. The night before the party, Ashley even slept over in Betty’s own bed, just to make sure Betty actually got some sleep that night. 

Which was suspiciously gay of her to do. 

Betty did actually get some sleep. Kind of. She was kind of busy worrying about the party and her sexuality and thinking about how beautiful Ashley looked as she slept blissfully next to her, a small smile on her full lips as she dream sweetly through the night. 

Lips that Betty wanted to kiss so badly she might as well have died right then and there.

And the way she said “Goodnight"! Betty wanted to cry, she just wanted to kiss her and hug her and give her whatever she wanted Forever. 

And lick her pussy. 

Hey, was that normal? Did people normally get urges to eat someone out? Was that a _thing_?

Betty decided it probably wasn't, but she would be that Ashley would appreciate the enthusiasm. 

If she was gay.

Oh god what if she _wasn't_ gay?

Wait, was Betty gay?

But what about Archie?

Maybe she was Bi? 

Betty decided to just let it go until after the party. That was the bigger fish that needed frying at the moment.

So the party happens, and it was a smashing success. Betty and Ashley both got major cudos on it as the night went on. At the end of the party, Ashley was able to find Toni Morrison and led her over to where Betty was helping the cleanup crew pack things up. “Ms.Morrison, I'd like to personally introduce you to Betty Cooper. She was the one who organized your party down to each little crumble of the congratulations cake.” Ashley said once Betty had turned around. Betty, suddenly turning into a deer in headlights, started stuttering foolishly as she extended her hand to Toni Morrison. _The_ Toni Morrison. “The whole thing? My my, Betty, you sure are one hard worker, aren't you?” Morrison said with bright smile and a light chuckle. Betty, finally getting her sense of the English language back in her head, managed to spit out “It is an absolute honor to meet you, Ms.Morrison, I'm a huge fan of yours!” She choked out as she felt the hot pricks of tears burn from behind her eyes. 

She forced herself to take a deep breath and calm down before she embarrassed herself in front of her idol and ruin the night for her for forever. 

“And I you, now knowing what lengths you take to make such an amazing book release party. I wonder what you could do for a birthday party?” Morrison teased lightly as she looked around the room, giving off this aura of wisdom. “You know what Betty? Ashley?” Morrison asked, “Working hard pays off and all, but don't forget to take a break once and awhile.” She sighed “Sometimes, you start something and before you know it, it's almost over.” Betty and Ashley starred at her with a small look of awe, transfixed by her words. She turned and faced the two of them. 

"Don't rush this time, girls, it goes by so quickly at your age. One summer can change everything.” She said in a knowing tone. Betty felt her heart stop mid beat. 

Morrison then smiled again, bid them goodnight, and left to catch her Uber. The girls felt like they were glued to their spots, unable to form words as any seemed unworthy compared to the literal elegance that was just spoken before them. Ashley was the first to move, and when she did she turned towards Betty, grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in for quite possibly the best kiss of Betty’s young life. And also the first. Betty was pretty sure she died and went to heaven, because there was no way someone's lips were this soft and there was no way someone as god like as Ashley was actually kissing her. 

So, Betty did what any sane person would do. 

She would kiss her back to make sure she could still feel and wasn't, therefore, dead. 

And the feeling that went through her body as she kissed back was probably the best feeling in the world. 

So she wasn't dead. 

That was good. 

Probably.

It took Lin finding them and positively squealing to break up the little make out moment they were having. 

"I _Fucking Knew it_ ” Lee hissed and he hugged his friends, spinning them around is a very gay kind of way. They all turned into giggling fools for like five minutes.

Betty couldn't remember the last time she was this happy.

From there, Lin pushed them into the Uber he had ordered for himself, paid the driver more than enough to get them to the hotel, and promised the girls that he'd help clean up. 

Which led for Betty and Ashley talking out what just happened in the back of the car, and what was going to happen. Ashley confessing to her lesbianism, and Betty came to terms with her own bisexuality. 

They agreed to a one night stand, as they were going to be going home in like, two days, so it couldn't really be more than a quick friends with benefits kind of thing. How mature of them.

Betty, surprisingly, was really okay with it. 

So they got it on.

.... Yep.

So Betty went home, and parted with Ashley and Lin as long distant friends and gay mentors. Gay Support Team, as they would later name their GroupMe chat. 

And Betty felt good about herself. Better than she had in years. 

And when she looked down at her phone and noticed a message from Ashley saying “Go Get That Crimson God bb, I believe in You™”, Betty was more determined than ever to get her hands on Archie. 

Finally.


	2. Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Veronica starts flirting big time and Betty is too oblivious to notice. Archie isn't. But we don't really like Archie yet, so fuck him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (there's a formatting error when Betty and Kevin say something at the same time, and I can't fix it right now but I will soon so... Bare with me.)

Moving forward, we next see Betty in her room, getting ready to walk with Archie to Pop’s for a long awaited milkshake, while telling Kevin everything that happened.

“I'm so excited for my 10 bucks tomorrow you have no idea,” Kevin sighed as he dropped himself gracefully onto Betty's bed. Betty smirked “Harty har, Kev, but bigger fish to fry.” She said before biting her lip, all the confidence she felt earlier starting to dissolve from her blood. “What if I screw things up? I haven’t seen him all summer.” Betty mumbled as she looked at herself in the mirror, then hopelessly at Kevin.

“I mean, nerves are acceptable, but c’mon Betty, we agreed. It's time. Tonight's the night! Archie _likes_ you, that's all there is to it.” Kevin reassured, laying on his stomach and resting his head between his hands. “Then why,” Betty started, turning around for dramatic effect, “Kevin.. Has he never expressed interest?” She countered. Kevin rolled his eyes and pushed himself up and off the bed, apparently unable to sit still for five seconds. “Because Archie is… Swell..” Kevin paused, trying to pick his words carefully. “And like every Millennial straight guy, he has to be told what he wants. So go tell him what he wants Betty Cooper, before I do.” Kevin explained as he started pacing, taking that moment to look out of Betty's window to see Archie, shirtless, across the way. He stopped dead in his tracts “Oh. My God. Game Changer!” Kevin exclaimed, scrambling to the window. “Archie got HOT”, he yelled and he looked back at Betty. Betty got up and quick-stepped to the window to see Archie Andrews, her best friend since diapers, with a glistening six pack that seemed like it was staring at her.

Archie was busy texting, his grey shirt bunched up around his collar. Apparently too busy to notice two different teenagers oggling him from across the street. Through a window that was perfectly aligned with his window. Like seriously how did he not see them?

“He has ABS now. SIX more reasons why you should be taking that ginger bull by the horns tonight.” Kevin cried, gesturing wildly to those very abs across the way.

All Betty could do was sob internally.

This was going to be way harder for her than she thought.

We'll skip ahead now to Pop’s, a local diner that everyone in town knows. If you're ever feeling down, chances are a milkshake and a burger can cheer you right back up. Open 24 hours. The place was basically magic.

Betty is sitting across from Archie in a nice booth that gave them a pleasant look out into the parking lot. Betty had her light pink vest/shirt thing on with cute teal dot earrings. Her blonde hair done up in her signature high ponytail with a subtle pink lipstick on. Her eyes unable to move from Archie's chiseled face. God help her.

Archie was wearing that grey shirt, properly this time, and a navy blue zip up hoodie. His red hair set in a neat way rather than the discheveled mess it was earlier. He also looked like he had showered finally.  

 

Nothing special but still looking damn fine.

 

“So what was the highlight?” Archie asked, eating a french fry from his plate. “Of my internship?” Betty asked back, granting her a small nod from him. Betty thought back to the book release party almost instantly. “The Toni Morrison book release party me and my partner organized, for sure.” Betty suddenly started rambling “The night was like pure magic! Everything was going smoothly and everyone seemed to be having fun, it was so awesome. Oh! And at the end of the night, Toni Morrison, who you know is-” “Right right your idol! yeah” Archie said like he actually knew but totally forgot about. Now the memories of Betty gushing to him about all the books she read of his flooded into his memory. “Right! Yeah, anyways.” Betty continued with a smile, totally knowing that Archie didn't know who she was talking about for like two minutes there. “So he comes up to me and my partner, and he congratulates us on the party and stuff but then he says ‘Don't rush this time girls, it goes by so quickly at your age. One summer can change everything,’” Betty presses her hand together and touched them to her lips, pressing down an excited squeal, and made eye contact with Archie, waiting for his reaction. Archie broke out into a big smile, looking wistful, “That is… so true.” He said, gaining a happy sigh from Betty, “I know right? It was so cool..” she was about to go on, but the next thing she would have told him would have been about the rest of the night. With Ashley. And, while she had no doubt that Archie wouldn't have a problem with her being bisexual, she didn't feel all that comfortable telling him yet.

She would, soon probably, but not yet.

“The best.” She concluded. She smiled brightly at Archie, “How was working for your dad?” She asked, resting her head on her hands.

“It was.. Pouring concrete. Everuday. All day long.” He sighed. It was probably the most boring thing ever, in his opinion. Then suddenly, Archie started to look gaurded. At least, that's what Betty called it anyways. He wouldn't meet her eye. “To pass the time, I started making up these… poems. And at night, I'd go home and write them down-” Betty interuppted, looking confused “But you don't like poetry?” “Right, but they weren't poems. They were song lyrics.” Archie continued, now somehow unable to break eye contact. Like he was worried she'd be like “Ew fuck outta here with that Troy Bolton bullshit Arch.” Which was stupid cause thats rude.

 

And Betty would rather die than be rude.

 

At least right now she would.

 

Archie tore his eyes away for half a second to glance around, making sure no one was paying attention to them before he continued. “And working on them made me feel like…” He paused again, unable to find the right word. “What, Archie?” Betty asked innocently.

 

She thought this new side to Archie was way sexy.

 

“It made me feel like I had finally broken through to something real.” Archie was all about dramatic pauses tonight. Betty just nodded along, “About my life, and what I should be trying to do with it.” And he paused again, for the last time (thank God), “Music!” He finally spat out, looking hopefully at Betty.

“Amazing! Arch, that's really great!” Betty was finally allowed to comment. She looked happy for him, and she was for the most part. It was great that Archie had found his calling. But music was a tough industry, and his coming to it seemed a bit like a rush job, so she had some questions.

“Will you ask Ms.Grundy to tutor you?” “I'm not sure, maybe.” “What about football, can you do both?” “I'll try out at least…” “Well, have you told your dad?” “No. So far you're the only one who knows, Betty. Until I have things worked out, you're the only person I’m telling.” Archie sighed, suddenly feeling like he was stuck in a game of twenty questions. Betty tried not to think about the flutters that just went through her everything when Archie said she was the only one who knew. She felt special. Archie made her feel special. Maybe that's why she liked him so much.

Betty smiled that bright, encouraging smile that made Archie feel like he could do anything. Or most things at least. “Well, I'd love to hear them. Your songs,” Betty said, genuinely curious to find out what it sounded like. Archie's face lit up “Yeah?” “Yes, of course,” Betty confirmed. “That's so cool of you Betty, I appreciate it.” Archie said, relieved that she was into it.

Betty started to feel nervous again. Archie looked so happy right now, and she wanted nothing more than to hold his hand and tell him about how much she missed this over the summer. Missed him.

 

But there was no time.

 

Because, as she gazed lovingly at Archie, a mysterious looking girl had just walked into the diner, wearing a midnight blue cloaked hood.

 

Cause Veronica was extra like that.

 

Archie was utterly transfixed just by the look of her. And Archie was more of a “What's on the inside” kind of guy, so she was seriously beautiful.

Betty frowned at him, as Archie was no longer paying attention to their conversation. She looked behind her to see what caught his eye.

Now she was unable to look away.

Veronica gracefully pushed her hood off of her head, giving her hair a light flick that perfectly showed off her gorgeous profile. Betty was viciously reminded of her gayness. She forced herself to look away, a light blush covering her pale cheeks. She took a small breath, and glanced behind her again.

All the while Archie was starring like an idiot.

No shame in this one.

Veronica glanced their way just as the blonde glanced at her. She caught her eye first, intrigued by the slowly growing blush on her face. Veronica grinned as Betty whipped her head back to try and focus her attention back on whoever was sitting across from her, who she made eye contact with next.

Veronica looked between the two, her heart immediately jumping a bit. They were both very attractive, that perfect boy and girl next door look to them.

 

Veronica always had a soft spot for the good ones.

 

'A ginger and a blonde, I haven't tried those ones yet.’ Veronica thought to herself. Her mission was clear now.

 

Seduce them both. Right Now.

 

Veronica model walked over to their booth, keeping eye contact with Archie is that sultry, sexy sort of way, a small grin on her face as she stopped in front of them.

To both Archie and Betty's surprised, she seemed to only stop there because Pop Tate was also standing there. “Hi there,” Veronica greeted Pop kindly, “I called in an order for Lodge?” “Yeah I got it, you'll have to wait a bit though.” Pop said as he made his way back to the counter. This gave Veronica the perfect opportunity to turn her attention to the two beautiful specimens sitting in front of her.

“Hey,” Veronica greeted, “Are the onion rings any good here?” She asked, feigning innocence as she looked between the two of them. Betty forced herself not to stare and tried to focus on Archie, and was only a little hurt when she saw that Archie wasn't doing the same.

“Like, so good.” Archie said, as articulate as ever. Betty gave him an unamused look.

Veronica's grin widened. She turned her head to in the direction of the counter. “And an order of onion rings too, please.” She called to Pop Tate, who nodded in acknowledgement. Probably thinking something along the lines of “If you fucking wanted onion rings you should have ordered them on the phone now your food is going to take long dumbass”, but kindly kept it to himself.

Veronica turned her head back to the table, letting her eyes linger on Betty’s face for a little longer than necessary. Then she looked at Archie. “My mother and I just moved here.” she said, like she needed to explain why she asked him about the onion rings.

“Oh really? From where?” Archie asked enthusiastically. “New York.” She said like it was no big deal, while knowing it was a pretty big deal. Betty half hung on to every word she was say, half wished that she would go away so she could get back to trying to ask Archie to date her.

“Wow.. that's so cool.” Archie said in awe. Betty had to dig her fingernails into her palms to keep from rolling her eyes.

Veronica extended her hand to Archie, “My name is Veronica Lodge.” She said sweetly, enjoying the light electric feeling of their hands touching. “Archie Andrews. And this is my friend, Betty Cooper.” Archie said, nodding towards Betty, who was kind of angry that he didn't allow her to introduce herself. And continued to keep a conversation with this strange, beautiful girl instead of paying her more mind. But she took this small opportunity to look into Veronica’s sparkling dark chocolate eyes. She smiled a bit, and gave her a small “Hello.”

Betty Cooper… where had Veronica hear that name again? Oh right! School!

“Oh hey! Are you the one who’s giving me my tour tomorrow?” Veronica asked with friendly and genuine enthusiasm. Betty was a little shocked as how real she sounded, and how excited she seemed. It made the blush on her cheeks come up again. “Yeah, that's me.” Betty said in a kind of “caught off guard” kind of way. Veronica's grin turned into a beaming smile. One that made both Betty and Archie's heart jump in their chests. “Are you excited for your first day?” Archie asked.

“Well, excited isn't exactly the word I would use. Are you familiar with the works of Truman Capote?” Veronica asked back, looking between the two. Betty nodded easily, while Archie nodded just to make it seem like he knew what he was doing. “Well, it's like I'm Breakfast at Tiffany's, and this place is strictly In Cold Blood.” She said with a light giggled. The simile made Betty laugh a bit, while Veronica's giggle made Archie chuckle.

Betty had to catch herself and remember her plan. Archie was endgame here, not Veronica.

“Would you ah.. like to sit down with us?” Archie invited, gesturing gently between him and Betty. Betty's eyes grew a bit at Archie’s rudeness to just invite anyone into their booth for a chat. Wasn't she enough? But Betty, polite as always, pressed her lips into a line and begrudgingly nodding along to what Archie was saying, while also stealing a small look at Veronica's stunning features.

Veronica's happiness melted into disappointment. “Actually, my mother's waiting for me. So I should actually go.” She sighed, looking at the counter just as Pop placed her order next to the cash register. Archie looked disappointed as well, “Right right, no problem.” He smiled again “We'll see you around school tomorrow?” Archie said with a bit of hope in his voice, which made Veronica's heart thrum a bit in her chest. “Yes, of course. And I'll definitely see you tomorrow too.” Veronica said, turning her attention to Betty.

Betty, looking shocked again for some reason, nodded “Of course. See you tomorrow.” She said kindly, trying to figure out why she kept including Betty in thus conversation when it was obviously flirting with Archie.

Veronica grinned again, obviously pleased with herself. “Perfect. Bye now!” She said happily, tossing that seductive grin at Archie and winking at Betty as she walked back to the counter.

Veronica felt proud of herself. She hasn't flirted with two people at the same time in a long time. Not since…

Well. A very, _very_ long time.

Either way, she felt very accomplish. The blonde, Betty, didn't seem to be warming up to her very much. She hoped she hadn't just intruded on a date or anything, that would have been way rude of her.

But the way Archie looked at her made her think it wasn't much more than a hang out session.

Which was fine for flirting, but if Veronica was going to bag the both of them she wanted them to enjoy each other too. Not to just be there for her sake. _But, I guess you can't force romance,_ Veronica thought as she payed Pop for the food, throwing in a couple of bills for a tip, and walked back to her sleek black car.

Well, if Veronica wanted them to like each other, Betty was two steps ahead of her.

Speaking of Betty, she was back inside of the diner, trying to process what had just happened.

If Betty had known any better, she would have thought that wink was some sort of flirtatious gesture.

But Betty did know better. So Veronica must have been fucking around with her. Which was kinda Bitchy of her.

Betty did know better… right?

She had been wrong before.

Why was she so mean already? She hardly her!

 _Well, Unless she really was flirting with me?_ Betty thought as she took another sip of her forgotten milkshake. It seemed unlikely.

 

Who even _was_ she?

 

While she was in New York, Betty had heard of some scandal with Lodge industries. Some sketchy money deal or something. Betty had paid it no mind, too busy wondering what Ashley's hair would look like with daisies braided into it.

She decided to look it up once she got home. 

“She seemed nice, right Betty?” Archie said, almost dreamily. “Yeah, she was…” Betty responded automatically, looking dazed. Archie sighed, then caught himself with all of that shit. What had gotten into him anyways?

“Sorry, what were we talking about?” He asked. Betty shook her head lightly.

“No idea…”

That night, the two sophomores went home and immediately went on the internet. Archie went to all of his social media accounts and looked for details on Veronica. He found some Facebook posts about her birthday, some family outings, other stuff. She seemed to have a charmed life in New York, and Archie couldn't quite find a reason on why they would move.

He checked her relationship status. “Recently Single”, it said. Archie figured she must have broken up with them before she left. Hm…

 

Probably not into long distance?

 

Archie switched to Instagram. Some beautiful photos of her laying poolside in a beautiful black bathing suit had Archie at a loss for words and unable to breathe. He kept scrolling. There were a few pictures of her with these two other people, an girl wearing a beautiful dark blue hijab and a boy with skin the color of the inside of a Three Musketeers.

That's that was the only way Archie could describe the color accurately.

He's got a way with words, this one.

Can't wait to see how his lyrics turned out.

One of the pictures was titled “Couldn't live without these two, love them sm” followed by a string of kissy emojis.

 _They must be very close friends,_ Archie thought as he continued to scroll through.

I mean, he wasn't _wrong_ but he wasn't really right either.

He clicked on a random picture and scrolled through the comments. They started off nice enough, but turned really nasty. Things like “I hope you get what you deserve you bitch” and “Your family makes me sick, can't believe I thought you were hot.”

“Thought?” Archie mumbled out loud, “I think he means 'Noticed’ cause she is hot.”

 

Oh, like he's one to talk about proper wording.

 

Anyways.

 

Archie was getting confused, so he opted to change social media. He went to Twitter next. She had some funny random thought posts, daily life things, some social justice stuff that made Archie feel just a bit more attracted to her. But he ran into the same kind of problems. Like “Was this before or after your family stole money from everyone?” And some other shit Archie didn't like to repeat.

Some of them were so nasty, Archie took the liberty of reporting them himself.

The shit people say on the internet these days.

Archie decided to look up Veronica's last name. Immediately, he found some articles leading to troubles with Lodge Industries. Hiram Lodge, CEO of the company, was currently on trial and in jail for multiple accounts of embezzlement and fraud.

Hiram was also, (un)surprisingly, Veronica’s Father.

Both Archie and Betty gasped simultaneously. Each in their respected houses, that is.

Betty had been doing some hardcore research on Lodge industries, looking for some dirt on Veronica so she'd have a reason to not get too involved with her. And while this would almost prove to be good enough, it wasn't exactly dirt that reflected onto Veronica specifically.

 

After all, children are not their parents.

 

Betty would give full testament to that.

 

Speaking of parents, Betty started to hear footsteps coming towards her room, so she quickly closed and plugged in her computer, and jumped into bed and grabbed some non-fiction book her mother wanted her to read.

“Just in time” Betty mumbled as her mother pulled open the door, with the quietest of knocks as well. Her mother's head peaking over at her from behind the door.

“Get some sleep, young lady, you have school in the morning.” Alice Cooper said in that “I know what's best for you since I'm the parent” voice. Betty sighed, “Alright mom, goodnight” Betty said in a nice, “I kind of hate you but you're my mom so I still love you” kind of voice. “Goodnight dear.” Alice responded as she flicked off the lights to Betty's room.

Betty decided she'd do more research in the morning. So she gently placed her book down on her night stand and pulled her covers over herself, and drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

Meanwhile, a sulky teenager with black hair and a grey slouchy hat was typing away on his keyboard, telling his story about what was happening in Riverdale along with Jason Blossom’s death. Dreading the moment when he'd have to go to sleep and wake up for school in the morning.

 

Which we'll talk about too, don't worry, but if you want the hard details you can go get his book yourself or something. Watch the fucking show or something I don't give a damn.

 

Nah, this version’s about getting to know the people, maybe give some sense to the course of actions that school year.

 

The answer always lies within the person, their actions.

 

Anyways. Back to the story.

 

It's morning in Riverdale, and most of the students woke up way earlier than necessary because of anxiety. Half of the rest stayed in bed because of depression, and the other half did just because they weren't used to waking up that early.

Veronica and Betty were the first part, Archie was the last part.

“Hey Dad!! First day and I'm already late, ha!” Archie called to his father as he quickly made his way down the stairs and pets his adorable dog, Vegas, as he enters his kitchen. Archie finds a piece of toast sitting on a plate, along with his back pack sitting on a stool standing along the kitchen’s island. He grabbed the toast, held it in his mouth, and slung his backpack over his shoulder.

“Hey hold on a minute,” called a voice from probably his father's study, which was where his dad usually spent his morning.

Low and behold, Fred Andrews emerged from behind the study’s doors, looking a but worse for ware but still keeping it together. His second cup of coffee already in his favorite mug, one that Archie had made for him in when he was a kid. It said “My Favorite Dad” in big, messy block letters.

“Don't forget to stop by the office after school today. We gotta get you trained there so you don't have to keep working on the site.” He said with a small, “I'm-a-Dad-and-I-Love-my-son” kind of smile.

Archie paused for a moment. The site.. the office? He didn't want to work in the office. Or the site, for that matter. All he wanted to do right now was get school and try outs over with so he could get home and start recording his new song.

Try outs… that'll be perfect!

“I can't today Dad, I got tryouts. I can't miss out on football.” Archie stressed a bit, probably more than he needed to. He decided to feel guilty about it later.

Fred’s smile faded a bit, but he nodded anyways. “Right right, of course… Have a good first day back.” He said, rasing his mug of coffee to him. Archie smiled a bit and headed out into the streets.

He thought about waiting a bit for Betty, but he remembered what time it was and assumed that she was probably already at school.

 

In fact, she was probably in the middle of her tour with Veronica right now.

 

Memories of the other nighy flooded into Archie's mind, making him smile a bit.

 

Then he started to walk to school.

 

Speaking of Betty…

 

She was, in fact, in the middle of her tour. With Veronica, who was oddly charming the whole time.

“Here’s the cafeteria. We've got a whole bunch of options for food, but some of them can be a bit… grotesque. So it's always safer to bring your own lunch from home.” Betty said, almost jokingly. Veronica giggled a bit, a giggle that made Betty's cheeks twinge pink for a hot second.

She pushed the gay down. _Not Right Now,_ she chided to herself.

Veronica grinned at her, “Well, I'm sure it's better than my cooking. I got my sense of the culinary arts from my mother. We're both utterly helpless in the kitchen, I tell you. I swear I actually burned water once!” Veronica exaggerated easily, but it earned her a light laugh from Betty. A laugh that

Veronica could tell that Betty was slowly warming up to her, drip after drop. It was slow, but it was paying off.

 

Or so she thought.

 

Truth be told, Veronica thought she was super good at flirting, but never actually got any feedback from those whom of which she flirted with.

 

Is that how you use whom in a sentence?

 

Fuck it it's not important.

 

Anyways.

 

Before Betty could start talking about some boring architect thing or some historical fact that definitely wasn't as cool as Betty made it sound, Veronica asked “So, are there any clubs in town?”

And as if summoned my the prospect of potentially going clubbing, Kevin Keller appeared out of literally nowhere.

“Well, there's the Roving Eye down town, which is fine for the most part. With a strip club called _Ho Zone_ just two blocks away.Then there's a tragic lone gay bar down past sixth street called _Innuendo_. Sometimes, during the week they'll be some movie at the Bijou, which is the local movie theater that doesn't involve bringing an entire vehicle as your seat. But you better get there quick anyways, because we don't reserve seats in Riverdale…” Kevin ranted, for far more than necessary, about the different things one could do in town, all the while Veronica grew more and more excited to see a fellow gay among them all.

Not, of course, that she didn't already peg Betty and Archie for low-key members of the LGBT+ community the moment she laid her eyes upon those beautiful gifts from the gods.

But she was glad that there was at least one openly gay person here.

She'd hate to add more attention to herself.

“... And Sunday nights?” Kevin sighed, slinging one arm around the blonde, “Thank God for HBO, eh?” He grinned, obviously pleased with himself. Betty's smile grew a bit, “Veronica Lodge, this is Kevin Keller. He is-”

“ _GAY_ thank _GOD_. Lets be best friends.” Veronica cut Betty off, thrusting her hand out for him to shake. Kevin gleefully shook it.

Then he just _had to fucking say it._

“Is it true? What they say about your father?” He asked in a gossipy voice.

You know, like a dumbass.

Veronica's smile faded, a suddenly guarded look that made the air drop ten degrees. Betty shivered, unexpectedly. “That he's the devil incarnate?” Veronica's voice was all sharp edges. “I stand by my father.” She finished sternly. Kevin gulped.

She turned to Betty, an unreadable look on her face, “Does the whole school know?” She asked, her voice made it sound as if she were almost hurt. It was hard for Betty to tell. Of course the whole school probably knew. Drama doesn't just go through Riverdale untouched, but the way she looked and sounded right now made Betty struggle to find the right words. As to not upset her further.

But her silence spoke enough for Veronica. “Great,” she sighed, “Ten minutes in and I'm already the Blue Jasmine of Riverdale High.” Veronica's voice dripped with melodramatic despair, and was about to make an equally dramatic exit when she spotted a certain red head just walking into school, in a varsity jacket and jeans no doubt.

Veronica always did have a thing for men in school colors.

“Ooh, there's that hottie from last night. The red headed Ansel Elsgort.” She said with some sort of sly grin as she leaned her head towards Betty. “Are you two dating?”

“No, we're just friends.”   “No, he's straight,”

They said at the same time.

Veronica laughed a bit, wondering if what she was about to say would drive Betty away or bring her closer to her.

“Great, because I've tried almost every flavor but ginger.” _And Blonde,_ Veronica finished in her head, not wanting to be too forward with Betty, in case she might flee the scene.

The look on Betty’s face was one of half disappointment and half utter despair. Of _course_ Veronica wanted Archie, it had been so obvious the night before. She was just trying to be nice to her to get closer to him, not flirting. _Duh_ thought Betty.

But the other part of it was _oh shit she wanted Archie._ Her _Archie._ Her anxiety spiked a bit. There was no way Betty could compete with Veronica, she was way more beautiful and smart, way more social than she was. Hell, she hadn't even said anything to him when she first walked into Pop's the other night, and he was already speechless. Just _looking_ at him

She couldn't compete with that.

She felt like she was in a Dolly Parton song.

Veronica noticed the face Betty was making, and decided that what she said was not doing what she wanted it to do. She tried to scramble to find something else to say, something to reassure her or something when Kevin, bless him, pipped up with “Actually, Veronica, Betty and Archie aren't dating yet, but they are end game.” In a almost “to the rescue” kind of tone. Both Betty and Veronica wanted to kiss him for it.

Veronica nodded a bit “Okay, Gotcha. Well then, you should ask him to the semiformal!” Veronica urged eagerly, happy to know that there were romantic feelings between the two. She just had to get them close enough and then she'd be able to step in at the right time and everything would be golden.

At that point, all Veronica had to do was hope that they were both open to trying polyamory. 

“That’s the plan, but they're saying it's going to be cancelled because of what happened with Jason.” said Kevin, looking more disappointed than saddened.

“Who's Jason and what happened to him?” Veronica asked, her symmetrically pointed eyebrows quirking in curiosity. Kevin and Betty looked at each other. Veronica felt a bit left out. All talk of Archie was forgotten for the time being.

“Well, you'll hear about it at the pep rally.” Betty said with a slight sigh. She gently put her hand on Veronica's shoulder, once again ignoring any sort of electrical feel she felt when she touched her, “Let’s get to class.”

And they started walking to class. They passed the doors just as that same dark haired boy from that snippet I mentioned earlier walked through them, looking tired and positively upset with the world.

He looked to either side of him, catching a small glimpse of a familiar blonde ponytail, walking next to some swooping black hair. The boy frowned a bit more, and turned to walk in the opposite direction. He generally kept his head down, avoiding eye contact. He went to his locker, got his books, and almost closed his locker went he saw another familiar swipe of hair past through his vision.

Short, fiery red hair.

The boy felt his face flush in some sort of mix of emotions, most of which he wasn't used to having. He stuffed his face back into his locker, pretending to look with bitter disdain for some book for English or something, the class didn't matter. Just until he was sure that he was gone.

All the while he knew he was going to have to face him at some point…

 _Later_ , he decided.

He pulled his head out or his locker, feeling a bit embarrassed for acting so… childish. Did he really just shove his head _like a fucking crushing dumbass_ just to avoid some _guy?_

No. _Hell_ no. He was not about to turn into “that” guy.

No. If Archie Andrews wanted to face him, he'd let him come to him. Fuck that shit.

The guy put on his signature scowl and started on his way to class, officially abandoning any sort of feelings he might have felt right there. If anyone saw him do what he just did, he would deny it and call them insane. Any and all feelings, at least for the time being, would be repressed and unfelt.

Depressing, isn't it?

Let's see how that red head was doing.

Archie was, to his surprised, not late. He had almost the perfect amount of time to get to his locker, grab his stuff, and make it to his first class. So he made his way to his locker.

That's when his friend, Reggie, made a grandiose entrance. “Hey hey hey look who grew up over the summer bro!! Little Archie got some meat on those bones huh?? Wow, man, look at you, look at those arms man totally diesel. You are totally ready for football this year. What are you benching, 220? 225? C’mon man gimme the deets!” Reggie all but yelled to Archie in a long string of a one sided conversation. He didn't even get the chance t reply before Reggie interrupted him. “Man you gotta be taking some T on the side, right? No? Some ginseng? Maca Root? Tribulus terrestris?-” Archie cut off whatever else Reggie was going to say, probably some more drugs that would make his muscles swell up until he looked like irish John Cena, with a friendly backhanded slap to the chest.

“I was just working with my dad over the summer, Reg, no drugs involved. Just a lot of manual labor.” Archie interrupted Reggie's schpeal over drugs with his actual answer. “Fixing up houses and whatnot.” He finished, closing his locker. Reggie went to walk with him. “Right right right. So while you were working, did you get any of that sweet cougar ass brah??” Reggie teased, looking for something interesting to talk about with Archie's summer. Archie put on a small grin and shook his head, “You're crazy Reggie.” and they all disappeared down the hallway, getting to their classes.

All the while trying to make it obvious that he definitely did get some of that cougar ass this summer. Illegally. As he was still like, a child. And she was almost twice his age.

Disgusting, I know. I hate writing about it.

But it was a big deal, so you know. I have to.

Lets skip to to assembly.

The whole school was there, packed into their considerably small gymnasium. There was a row of chairs lined up just a few feet in front of the bleachers, one for each of the teachers.

Near the center of the court stood a wooden podium, dark maple finish, and a little black microphone sticking out from the top. To its right stood three more chairs, one for the principal, the vice principal, and the “guest speaker”.

Students filed into the gym in a steady flow. Friends met up with friends and tried to find an open space for everyone to sit. Veronica, snatching this perfect opportunity, stuck close to Betty as Betty tried to find Archie in the crowd. She was disappointed to see him sitting with a bunch of his football friends, hoping that she could have at least sat by him during the announcement. But she found Kevin with a few open seats around him, so she and Veronica made their way to sit by him.

The boy from before sat himself in the corner, hoping no one tried to make small talk. He hated small talk.

After everyone set in, the principal walked to the podium, thanked everyone for taking some time out of their first day to be here for this meeting. He said a few more announcements, then introduced the special speaker, while also asking for a moment of silence for the fallen football and water polo star, Jason Blossom.

Miss Cheryl Blossom, while dressed in a black mourning dress and one of those black veils that poorly covers one's eye made her way on stage after about one solid minute of silence. Her signature maple red lipstick perfectly done on those full lips. She was stunning, in a widowed Lana Del Rey sort of way.

“Thank you, for that moment of silence.” Cheryl said, promptly breaking the serenity that had fallen across the quiet gym. “Many of you were lucky enough to have known my brother personally.” Cheryl continued, looking sad but also eyeing the crowd to see if anyone would so much as look in some sort of dishonorable way at the mention of her brother. She saw none.

But Betty had her nails pressed into her palms and the emo-boy had rolled his eyes.

Just so you know.

“Each, and every one of you meant the world to Jason.” Cheryl lied with faked sincerities. Betty almost snorted out loud. Veronica stole a quick glance at Betty and frowned a bit by the aura of rage that had overtaken Betty's usually calm manor of doing things.

“I loved my brother. He was and always will be my soulmate.”

Yeah, like that didn't have “Twincest” written all over it.

“So I speak with the confidence that only a twin could have… Jason wouldn't want us to spend the year mourning. Jason would want us to move on with our lives. Which is why I've ask the school board not to cancel the back-to-school semiformal.” Cheryl ended with a smile. The crowd cheered with newfound happiness, now knowing that their fun wouldn't be cancelled because a kid decided to up and die on them.

Archie was trying to pay attention.

He _really_ was.

But he couldn't help but feel a pair of eyes burning into him, from the front of the bleachers.

He shouldn't have looked.

But he did.

There, he saw a Ms.Geraldine Grundy looking back at him, her pupils blown wide with desire and looking a bit desperate.

And suddenly he couldn't look away.

_Fuck._

Memories of the summer flooded his mind. The way she looked with those heart shaped sunglasses, her long hair waving effortlessly over her shoulders as she pulled up along side him in her car. The way she said “What are you doing walking in this heat?” In that voice that went straight to his cock.

Those moments in the heat of her car.

Those moments along Sweetwater River…

And suddenly, Archie wasn't horny anymore. His veins felt like they were carrying ice-water instead of blood. He tore his eyes away from Grundy just in time to start clapping as Cheryl exited stage left to her chair.

Archie felt sick, and dirty. Like he wanted to shower and was his feelings away.

But he couldn't. Not now.

Not after July 4th.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty. Chapter Two. The way things are going, I'll probably have enough material to last me like... Five years. So get ready kiddos. 
> 
> As far as updates go, they'll probably be once a week or so. It is summer, after all, but I do have a job and shit to do on my own. So. Who knows. 
> 
> Leave some love in the comments and kudos if you want to, I don't give a shit if you like this or not I'm just going for it at this point. 
> 
> Lit.


	3. Seeing Red. Literally.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty realizes some more shit. We learn what Archie did over the summer.

He _had_ to talk to her about it.

As the gymnasium cleared into the hallways, Archie chased after a very persistent Ms. Grundy. She seemed keen on getting as far away from him as possible, which was odd considering the looks she was giving him like, five minutes ago. Talk about confusing.

“Ms.Grundy… Ms.Grundy!!!” Archie called, trying to get his voice to reach over the noise of the hallway. To no avail, she didn't stop walking. Archie sighed dramatically, “Geraldine!!!” he all but screamed. Grundy stopped where she was and, ever so slowly, turned around to face him. “What can I do for you, Mr.Andrews?” She said in a very professional kind of way. Archie almost felt hurt. “Can we talk?” He asked, almost desperately. “About what, Mr.Andrews?” and suddenly, her tone had changed. She sounded more like a flirty school girl now, trying to play hard to get, but not too hard.

 

_Ugh._

 

“Music. You're the music teacher, right? Can we talk about music?” Archie asked desperately, trying whatever he could so he could get alone with her to talk about what happened. Sadly, she was the only one he could talk about it to.

“Right, music. Of course we can talk about music. During my office hours, with an official appointment.” Grundy said in a clipped tone. She promptly turned on her heel and walked away. She probably felt good about herself for pulling that off, but it also reminded her that she was a teacher, and he was a student. Not even a senior. A fucking _sophomore._

 

_Ew._

 

Archie felt defeated, for all of two seconds. Then, he just so happened to remember that this school, small as it was, had their very own pop band. Josie and the Pussycats. And they were probably rehearsing right now, probably in the auditorium. Maybe they could give Archie some pointers on his songs and piece some things together. If he was lucky, maybe they'd let him stay and listen to them rehearse.

Suddenly, Archie felt hopeful.

Archie quickly made his way to the auditorium, and just rudely walked onto the stage as the girls were harmonizing on a new song. He didn't say anything at first, just listened to the wonderful sounds they were making. Then Josie, being the only one who noticed them, cut her girls’ background singing off with a flick of her hand. “Um Excuse me..” Archie started, but he too was cut off by Joise’s hand flicking. “ 'Um, Excuse me' this is a private rehearsal.” Josie mocked with some hardcore attitude. Archie's hope started to fade away in a way that made his heart clench.

“Right, I'm sorry, but I was just wondering if you could help me with my songs-” he tried again, but to no avail. “Let me just stop you right there. For one, you're staring at our pussycat ears, which is rude of you, but let me break it, and them, down for you.” Josie said, dramatically placing her guitar to the side, standing, and strutting over to Archie. “The Pussycats are building a brand. Creating a signature look, okay?” Josie explained, flicking her hands up to her plastic cat ears, her pointer finger and middle finger extended like the Hunger Games thing but facing outwards. Probably to represent the cat ears.. I guess.

Whatever it was, it was _extremely_ Extra.

Josie put on hand down, with a look of both pride and badass attitude. “We're telling” she _snapped_ her fingers, “A story.” _snap._

 

_Fucking Extra._

 

“Last year, we won Rockland County’s Battle of the Bands-” she continued, before one of the other girls add “That we did.” like she was all that but like no one even remembers her name?

 _Who even is she?_ Literally, Archie could not put a name to the face. He knew Josie, and he knew Val.. vaguely. But who was _she?_

But it's fine because she's hot.

“This year,” Josie continued without missing a beat, “We'd like to build on that success, continue telling our story with song _we_ write.” She emphasized, leaning towards Archie for extra emphasis.

“I get that. It's just..” Archie tried to continue, but to no avail.

“Read my glossed lips, Justin Gingerlake.” Josie sassed, gesturing to all of Archie. Gingerlake… he hadn't heard that one before.

“Not. Gonna. _Happen._ ” Josie pointed every word to be extra condescending, even adding a wink at the end there. Then she waved her hands in a shoo-ing motion. Obviously waving him out the door.

Archie had no other choice but to accept that he just got completely roasted and walked away, going to class.

Yikes.

I almost feel bad for him.

But his Dad just roasted Hermione Lodge so lets go check that out instead.

So they're at Fred Andrews’ trailer office thing on his construction site. After hearing about an opening in his office for an accountant position, Hermione decided she could try and get a job there. Nothing permanent, that is, just a temp job while the other accountant is on maternity leave. It probably wouldn't be bad.

Not bad at all, actually.

You see, Hermione had been friends with Fred Andrews back when they were in highschool. Close friends actually, even significant others at one point. But, in the end, Hermione had chosen Hiram. For… some reason.

From what's going around, it didn't exactly end well.

But good enough for Hermione to think that she would have a good shot at landing a job in this town.

So she decided to stop by to apply.

She sat down in a chair in front of what was probably Fred's desk. It seemed big and important, and since it's his company, she can put two and two together.

That and, after she sat down, she saw that he had a little name plate thing on this front of it.

Good start, good start.

She waited there for about ten, fifteen minutes before she heard the door open behind her. Suddenly, her heart started beating extra fast.

“Hermione Lodge, as I live and breathe.” Fred said in a almost mocking tone. Hermione grinned a bit, but she didn't appreciate his tone at all. “Hello Fred, how are you?” She asked in a civilized manor. Fred smiled a bit, threw some files he had in his hand onto his desk, then he walked over to his little mini fridge. “I've been alright, for the most part. Can I get you something?” he asked, gesturing to his fridge. Hermione didn't look at his gesture, but straight into his eyes and said “A job. Please.” In the most direct and bold way she could that would make her still seem professional.

Fred, while impressed by her forwardness, gave her a look of apprehension as he walked back to his desk with a coke in hand. “I saw your ad on your website.” Hermione explained unnecessarily to him, the look in her eyes changing from “business steel” to desperate. Fred's look of apprehension stayed where it was as he mumbled something about his guy being on maternity leave.

But we already talked about that so moving on.

Seeing this look, Hermione tried to think of something to say that could get him to relax a bit. She glanced around at his desk an noticed a picture of Fred and a boy that a bearded the uncanny resemblance of Fred at a younger age in his life. Hermione smiled, “You know, my daughter and I just moved here from New York. She's going to school at Riverdale High, just like we did. She mentioned something about a kid with the last name Andrews when she picked up our food from Pop's. I was wondering if there was any relation?” She asked, talking like she was some sort of friend trying to catch up after all these years.

Fred didn't like that.

But when she mentioned Archie, he seemed to relax a bit face-wise. “Yeah, that's my son. Archie. He's a sophomore at the Highschool this year.” He said nonchalantly, leaning back in his chair a bit. “Well then, we'll have to tell them that we were friends back in highschool. We even dated for a while.” Hermione threw that in there for reasons unknown. Maybe she thought he would go sweet on her.

He didn't.

Fred wasn't too fond of Hermione just walking back into his life after all this time. Especially now that he was two years in to his separation with his wife.

Nope, not fond of this at all.  

“Right… you know, if it were up to me-” “Isn't it?..  Up to you? It's your company.” Hermione interrupted, knowing where this was going and sounding way more desperate this time around. “I've got clients, Hermione. And if they knew I was hiring Hermione Lodge, wife to Hiram Lodge who's on trial for tax evasion and embezzlement…” Fred trailed off, now feeling a bit bad for this. “I'm sorry.. I just can't do it.” He said with a sigh. Hermione, looking a bit broken, slumped in her chair, and tried to think of her next step. In the end, she nodded, thanked him for meeting with her, and walked out of the trailer, and Fred sighed heavy heartedly.

On the way home, she cursed everyone and everything in this town for being so mean and uninviting. Couldn't they see that she was trying to make amends?

No, of course not. Nothing changes that easily.

God, she fucking hated this place.

She got home, kicked off her heels, and grabbed herself a nice big glass of wine.

She could only hoped that Veronica was doing better on her first day in a new school.

And boy, _was_ she.

Veronica was now walking through the cafeteria with her lunch, looking as good as ever, and continually avoiding all eye contact while also scanning the crowd for familiar faces. When she saw none, except for some brooding guy she had in her English class who didn't paying any attention to the lecture and just typed away at his keyboard the whole time. He was still typing now, actually, and seemingly forgotten his lunch in favor of his computer screen.

He wasn't bad looking, _quite the contrary,_ Veronica added mentally. He had an hidden genius look to him, and a nicely chiseled jaw line that Veronica would be happy to pepper with kisses. She grinned to herself, _I'll give him a shot later._ She thought as she exited the cafeteria to the outside sitting area.

She earned herself a few glances and glares from some tables, people whom of which she didn't even know. She felt a bit subconscious as she continued to walk down the scattered rows of bolted down plastic tables until she saw a familiar high ponytail and a hint of dazzling red hair. She made a not so obvious b-line to them.

Upon arriving, she had heard some chillaxed music coming from what she assumed was Archie's laptop. Archie had a guitar case leaning against the edge of the right side of the table, while Kevin sat on the other bench and Betty sat next to Archie. Veronica didn't think twice about the guitar, just ignored it. The music, however, sounded pretty okay. It had an upcoming local band sound to it. But once Archie noticed Veronica's presence, his face flushed a bit and he closed his computer. Veronica frowned a bit, perplexed, and ask “Hey, mind if I join?” As she placed her tray on the other side of Kevin and, gracefully, sat down. Betty looked up at Veronica, remembered her gayness, and nodded a bit. “Sure, of course.” She said, nodding to the spot next to Kevin that Veronica was already sitting in.

 _Smooth, Betty._ She thought, biting down a flush of embarrassment. Veronica noticed, and quickly moved the conversation to Archie before Betty’s embarrassment grew too much. “So, what are we doing?” She said, deliberately looking at Archie’s computer. Betty, thankful and eager, tried to repress a smile, unsuccessfully, and said “We’re listening to some of Archie's music. Something he sang and _wrote_!” She exclaimed, unable to control her excitement. Archie looked bashful

Thank _god_ it was decent. Otherwise Betty would have had to lie to him and pretend it was good.

As if reading Betty's mind, again, Kevin added “You know, I thought we were going to have to pretend that it was good, but it's actually not that bad.” His tone having a lot more “Matter of fact”-ness in it than earlier. Archie's blush grew, “It's no big deal, just a few rough demos is all. It's really rough.” He said in a very bashful tone, shaking his head as he put away his computer. He was trying to act like this feedback wasn't the best thing he had heard all day, but it was so he couldn't help but smile a bit. Modesty was a cute color on him.

“It was incredible, the bit that I heard.” Veronica commented genuinely, her opinion of the music becoming more positive as she learned that it was Archie's music. Archie tried to hide the fact that Veronica's comment made his heart beat at the pace of a race horse. Betty glaced between the two and felt both a small pang of jealousy and… fondness?

Probably? Knowing which feeling is which was really throwing Betty off these days. One day she's mooning over her childhood crush, and the next she's between a literal goddess's thighs. Thing were weird.

 

Puberty, maybe.

 

Betty put her excited face on again and nudged Archie's shoulder with hers, “Don't be so modest, Archie, this is actual quality music.” She encouraged, giving him the warmest of smiles. Archie felt his heart flutter a bit as he chuckled, to which Betty giggled a bit.

Now it was Veronica's turn to feel that fondness.

This was just _so nice._

 _Sickeningly_ nice.

Archie, still chuckling, looked at his watch. He sighed happily, and started to gather his things. “Well, I've got a meeting with Ms.Grundy in a few minutes, then football tryouts after school today. So I'll see you all later!” He said as he picked up his stuff and started for the building. “Music _and_  Sports? Real Troy Bolton Boy™ we've got here.” Veronica commented mostly to herself, but of course Kevin heard and hid his laughing fit behind a couple of coughs.

They said a small version of goodbye to him as he left, and turned their attention on each other. Betty, still giddy for that actually kind of weird happy moment she had with Archie, turned that big bright smile onto Veronica, who was Not Ready For That, and asked “So, how's your first day going?”

Veronica, swallowing her heart that jumped to her throat because of that cute ass smile, answered smoothly, “It's okay, I guess.. Not to be a complete narcissist, but I just kind of expected people-” “To be obsessed with you?” Kevin interjected. “Normally, any other year for sure, you would be the talk of the town right now. But this year is all about Cheryl Blossom, trying to win the Best Supporting Psycho Oscar for Riverdale High’s bereaved Red Widow.” He explained in his exaggerated tone of voice.

But speak of the devil, and she shall appear.

In a completely different outfit from before... what the hell why?

Cheryl Blossom had spotted their table and was walking directly towards them. Betty exasperated and looked away from Cheryl's direction, dreading whatever hell was about to come. Kevin made some sort of groaning noise in the back of his throat, giving Veronica a quick “Brace Yourself” look before she descended upon them like the plague.

“Veronica Lodge! I heard whispers. I’m Cheryl Blossom.” Cheryl shrilled, placing both her hands on their table. Kevin bit back some sort of remark about Cheryl’s sudden fashion change. Surprised that she wasn't going to milk the whole “poor grieving sister” all day.

Okay that was a little harsh, maybe Kevin should take a breath.

“Scooch, Betty dear.” Cheryl said to Betty as she moved herself onto Betty's side of the table. Cheryl's smile was one that early Linsey Lohan would call “Plastic”, completely fake but if anyone were to point it out they'd be dead where they stood. Scary, but Veronica was having none of it.

 

Two could play this little charade.

 

 _Ugh, what a stupid line,_ Veronica chided herself as she placed a similar smile on her face. “It's nice to meet you too, Cheryl. I've heard so much about you.” She said with some sort of half seduction half pure ice edge to it. Cheryl couldn't help but feel a little bit angry and turned on.

By this point you should probably understand that there are very few straight people here in Riverdale. Cheryl being no acception.

Old news, moving on.

Cheryl rested her head on one of her manicured hands. “So, what are you three hen gossiping about? Archie's Efron-esque emergence from the chrysalis of puberty?” She toyed, figuring that the comment about Archie would upset Betty or something.

But it also upset Veronica. Both because she didn't like the way she was talking about Archie and because she didn't like the way she was obviously teasing Betty. Veronica aimed the conversation away from her soon to be significants.

“Extracurriculars, actually. The Principal wants me to sign up for a few.” She said smoothly. Kevin admired her quick deflect of the bait. He knew full well that what he was watching was the beginning of some of the greatest home drama he was ever going to see in his _life,_ so he kept his mouth shut as best as he could.

Cheryl's face fake lit up. “Cheerleading!!” She cried, “You must. I'm senior captain of the River Vixens.” She said, with what was probably supposed to be a casual hair flip but was more of a “over-the-top-and-I-used-the-wrong-hand-to-flip-my-hair” kind of deal. But she pulled it off, somehow.

It was so extra, Kevin's tongue biting couldn't hold true. “Is being a cheerleader still a thing?” He sassed. Cheryl snapped her attention to him and jabbed a “Is being the gay best friend still a thing?” Right back at him. Kevin, thoroughly burned, went back to keeping his mouth shut. Veronica, feeling even more angry that her gayness was not acknowledged, turned her stare on to 75% ice and only 25% flirt as Cheryl continued. “Some people say that its retro. I say its iconic and timeless.” She shared wistfully. Veronica was having none of it, but cheerleading was something she wanted to do anyways so she had to make herself sound good.

“Back in New York, I was at the top of my pyramid. I'll be there.” She said coyly. Then a brilliant idea hit her, and Veronica's eyes lit up. “Betty, you will too, right?” She offered in a suddenly friendly tone, making sure that no ice or any bitchy attitude was there.

Because she liked Betty. She didn't like Cheryl. So fuck Cheryl.

Betty looked a bit shocked to find that she was suddenly in this conversation. She had been busy wondering what kind of undergarments Veronica might be wearing. She seemed like a lace kind of person, which was really hot.

Cheryl, not happy about Betty's invitation into the conversation, and to tryouts, played it cool and said “Of course! Anyone's welcome to try out. But Betty's already got so much on her place,” Cheryl made a pointed look at Betty's tray of food. Which literally consisted of only healthy foods and was So Rude that Veronica wanted to slap her. “Any being a Vixen is kind of a full time thing, But they're open to all!!” Cheryl continued casually. She stood, “Follow me on twitter and I'll do the same. My handle is @CherylBombShell.” She shamelessly promoted before turning on her heels and swishing her hips away from their table. They all seemed to exhale a breathe none of them were aware of holding.

Veronica, deciding that she didn't want to give Cheryl any more attention. “I know that cheerleading is totally dumb these days, so you can go ahead and hate on cheerleading if you want.-” she started, before Betty jumped in. “Are you kidding? I'd love to be a cheerleader!! It would look great on my college application. But the Vixen's are Cheryl's and we aren't exactly the best of  friends.” she rambled a bit, reassuring Veronica that she totally dug cheerleaders. “Last year I tried out, and Cheryl said I was too fat.” Betty said with a hint of “I'm not really over it”. Kevin added something about the line that Cheryl used on Betty but Veronica could have cared less. She was offended and totally pissed off that someone could ever say something like that to Betty.

If Cheryl were to come back right now, Veronica was pretty sure that she would have beaten the shit out of her.

 _Keep calm, Veronica, try to reassure her._ Veronica thought as she gathered her anger and pushed it down for later. “Well, you're a total smoke house now! Look at you, you're gorgeous.” She laid it on a bit too much, her gayness definitely showing there.

Kevin caught it, Betty didn't.

Which is why Kevin's coughing fit after choking on his water went unnoticed by everyone as Betty sighed, her eyes staring off into the distance, a little smile on her face from the compliment as she shook her head. “I mean it! With as beautiful and as smart as you are, you should be the Queen Bey of this drab hive.” Veronica flirted relentlessly, almost hoping Betty would catch on a bit.

Again, to no avail.

“You know, if you really want to be a River Vixen, I could help you out. I've got some moves.” Veronica said, more or less asking Betty out in a nonchalant kind of way that had Kevin choking all over again. This time Veronica notice, and was happy that at least _someone_ was catching on. Betty looked at Veronica, a mischievous look in her eyes. Maybe she was catching on? “You know what? Show me your moves.” Betty said before taking such a bite of her apple that Veronica felt shivers go up and down her spine. Okay, she was totally catching on now, right?  

Wrong. Betty had no idea or concept that Veronica had just sort of asked her out until Kevin pointed it out as they walked to class. She just really liked apples.

But when he did, it was Betty's turn to start choking on something. She chose air.

“ _What??_ That was most definitely _not_ a date offer. No way. Nope.” Betty denied. Though it wasn't like the idea wasn't appealing, it was just preposterous. There was no way.

Was there?

(There was, and it was.)

Kevin sighed dramatically, “Look, Betty, I know you're new to the LGBT+ community and all, but you're not stupid! Jesus, it was like she was throwing herself at you and saying 'Take me’ and you just said 'Where to? I just filled up with gas.’ ” He ranted, using a lot of hand gestures as he went. “I mean, c’mon Betty!!” He all but yelled, leaning himself against the lockers as Betty retrieved something from hers. Betty just shook her head.

Then she thought back to her conversations with Veronica.

And how every one of them did seem a bit… flirty.

And the one she just had with them?

 

Oh…

 

Oh _wow._

 

A look of realization dawned on Betty's face and Kevin wanted to bang his head into the lockers.

_Finally. God fucking damn it._

Betty, then, started to panic.

What was she going to do?? She promised herself she would finally start going after Archie, try to get something to work with him. Something she had been dreaming about for years.

But, on the other hand, Veronica was Super Hot. And she was super witty and smart, and she wasn't afraid to say what she wanted to say and Betty really admired that. It made her want to be better.

Not to mention it was always nice to be around her. She was just so comforting to be around.

She hadn't felt that way with anyone else besides Archie and Jughead. Her long term friends, and long term crushes. 

Oh _no,_ Betty had almost forgotten about Jughead. Her stomach started to twist with guilt. Gods, it feels like it's been forever.

 

Wait.

 

Crushes.

 

_Wait._

 

 _Oh man_ Betty had a crush on Veronica.

 

A big, fat, gay crush on Veronica oh god this was Not Good. Betty's emotions were not made to be pulled in so many directions. This isn't fair. This isn't _fair._

Betty wanted to cry.

Noticing the dawning anxiety and stress that was overcoming her entire being, Kevin quickly pulled Betty aside to a less crowded part of the hallways to calm her down.

“Betty. I know this is probably really scary for you and a very confusing time for you. But try to look on the bright side of it! Veronica's a… fun person to be around and she definitely like you. That's not a bad thing! And it's not like you have to actually do anything about it either. She hasn't flat out confessed to you yet so you're okay for now. Plus your date with her isn't until tomorrow, so you have plenty of time to figure things out before then.” Kevin rambled senselessly. It wasn't necessary helpful to hear, but it did help Betty get out of her own head and focus on what Kevin was saying instead. He was right, she had time to figure out her feelings for… everything before their meet up tomorrow after school. She could probably do that.

Betty took a few deep breaths and nodded at Kevin. Kevin smiled a bit, “Okay, let's get you through the next few hours and then get you a milkshake.” He said as he draped his arm around her shoulders, ushering her to her next class.

Meanwhile, Archie was having a very uncomfortable conversation with Ms.Grundy that no one wants to re-live and remember.

So I'll shorten it.

Geraldine basically looks like she's masturbating while she's listening to Archie's music, but Archie just sees that as her getting into the music. Which he thinks is a good sign overall. He tries not to think about the everything between them at the moment.

After she's done, she tells Archie that he's got potential and he basically lights up like a fucking Christmas tree right where he is. Then he begs her to give him lessons, because she's the only music person in this town that is qualified to do so.

Which is a lie, but she's the easiest to access so Archie kind of rolls with it.

She tells him no, because she thinks it's about him trying to get into her pants and while yes, she would like that (ew), she does remember that he is her student and she is his teacher. So that's illegal.

But, she did always have a thing for rule breaking.

Double ew.  

Archie's tells her that he's completely serious about his music and wants to keep it purely professional.

And he means it, too. Like actually, full heartedly doesn't want to be like that with Geraldine anymore. Not that he regrets it, though he probably should. He enjoyed what they had but, it really is illegal and Not Good. So he full-heartedly believes in stopping whatever this is for his music.

Grundy, totally actually hurt to hear that he doesn't want in her pants, turns him down hardcore again and struts out of her room. Leaving Archie sad and confused because where was she going? This is her room? Didn't she have a lesson in like five minutes?

Whatever. Archie decided to switch his mind to football.

Time to show off his sporty side.

He went to the locker rooms and changed into his gear, and went out to the fields.

The coach said some words to them, told them to try their best and whatnot, and made them do some warm up drills before any actual practicing. Archie tried to keep his mind in the game, but he kept drifting off into his conversation with Grundy and-

“Yo, Andrews! Focus a bit why don't you?” A certain dark haired absolutely asshole that happened to be the coach’s son yelled to him. Fire flared in Archie's chest and stomach as anger shoved everything else out of his mind. He started hyper focusing on his game, putting everything he had into every step, throw, block and tackle that came his way. He got some nice comments from the coach, which was cool and all, but every time Archie checked to see if Chuck was looking at him, newfound rage overtook him.

 _Gods above_ he wanted to punch his stupidly pretty face so far into the ground that worms would get suck in his ears.

 

Ew…

 

….

 

Wait.

 

Was that a typo? Did I just say that Archie wanted to punch his “stupidly pretty face” into the ground?

You bet your sweet ass I did.

I should tell you what happened with Archie over the summer.

Because it wasn't all pedophilia and concrete.

Well, at least not in the beginning.

Somewhere towards the middle of June, Archie had found himself at a party. Hosted by none other than Chuck himself while his parents were away. There was a whole bunch of dancing, and everyone was way drunker than they needed to be. Especially since they were all like.. fifteen.

Archie was no acception. He was way drunk, and kind of out of it. But he was dancing and having fun like anyone else.

That's when Chuck slid into step with him.

Archie just laughed and went along with it. No harm in dancing, it was just dancing.

 

Right?

 

Wrong.

 

Chuck's started to move in closer, and he kept giving Archie these looks that made him flush ever so slightly. Soon there was hardly any distance between them at all, and Archie made no moves to make any either.

They dance like that for awhile, getting close and being in each other's space. And Archie kind of liked it.

Why did he like it?

Soon enough, Chuck leans close towards Archie's ear and whispers “Follow me upstairs.” In a very husky voice that made Archie involuntarily shiver. His blush grew a bit as he turned and followed Chuck upstairs. 

Lucky for them, no one noticed their disappearance and/or went looking for them. Chuck led him into his bedroom, and closed the door. Archie was suddenly Very Sober and confused as to what was about to go down and if he wanted to stop it or not. The music from downstairs was still hearable from this room, just not as loud as it was. Chuck pulled Archie close to him and started dancing again. Archie, suddenly transfixed by Chuck and his pretty brown eyes and the music and _everything,_ started dancing again as well. This time, way closer. They touched and bumped and grinded to the music until Archie found his back pressed to Chuck's door as he kissed him like his life depended on it. Archie hooked his arms around Chuck’s neck and pulled him closer as their lips molded together. Archie's head started to spin as the kiss deepened, his mouth opening at the slight touch of Chuck’s tongue on his lips.

 _Gods above_ Archie had never been kissed like this before in his life.

And it felt _amazing_.

The kiss broke for a second, allowing the two to catch their breath a bit before Chuck started to lick and nibble and kiss his way from Archie’s jaw line to collarbone. Archie let out a soft, small moan as his hands curled into fists against Chuck's chest. The dizziness spread throughout Archie's body and centered straight on his cock, which was half hard right now. Which kind of shocked Archie, but as he continued to get more into this make out session, he became less and less shocking. Archie felt those fucking lips abandon his collar for his again, and Archie kissed him back with _vigor_. No second guessing. 

But then he felt a hand dangerously close to his cock.

And the hand was trying to undo his belt.

Which shocked Archie in a more scary sobering way than the arousing way. His confusion came back at full force, and brought along some panic too. Does he want this? Should he want this? What was _happening_?

One of Archie's hands uncurled itself from Chuck’s chest and grabbed his wrist, prompting him to break the his and pull away a bit. “Hey.. wait a minute.” Archie tried, hoping Chuck would pull back a bit and see that Archie was uncomfortable with what was happening.

But all Archie was able to get out was “Hey…” in his state of mind. Which was drunk and his head didn't have all that much blood in it. So his speech was slurred and slow, allowing for Chuck to just say “Hey!” with a cheeky smile as he went in for another kiss, his hand going back to trying to undo his belt again.

Warning sirens started going off in Archie's head as Chuck's lips landed on his again, so Archie turned his head to the side to break the kiss again as he struggled to get Chuck to stop.

But he kept going.

Archie started to panic more.

He tried to worm his way away from Chuck, but he seemed to be everywhere at once which totally not fair. He felt Chuck starting to grind into him and while yes, it felt really good, Archie still didn't want it. Not like this. He kept saying “No, stop… Stop…” over and over again but he still kept going. Why wasn't Chuck getting the message?  Fear started to prick behind Archie's eyes as he let go of Chuck’s wrist, grabbed his shoulders and shoved him away as hard as he could. Which got Chuck to finally back off a bit, an irritated smile on his lips.

Archie found himself panting a bit, his fear spreading everywhere. “I said STOP!” He yelled at him. Chuck only chuckled and crossed both of his arms behind his head like an asshole. “C’mon Arch, don't act like you didn't want it.” He said nonchalantly, slowly walking towards him again, his arms lowering slowly. Archie's fear started turning into anger. He wanted to yell “Well obviously I _DIDN'T_  want it, or did you not hear me saying 'no’ and 'stop’?”, But his voice failed him. Chuck looked to the side, then back at him. “You were totally begging for it dude, don't lie. Come on, lets keep going. You basically owe me now since I'm already hard.” Chuck said again with that “I can do whatever I want whenever I want to” attitude. Archie felt his insides start to turn with disgust. “Chuck. What the _hell?_ I can't…. This… god you fucking _asshole_.”  Archie managed before he turned and stormed out of Chuck’s room, down the stairs, and out the door.

Archie started to feel numb. Numb and dirty, used. His skin crawled and his head hurt. The more he thought about what has just happened the more he felt like throwing up and scratching his skin off. His headache started to grow everywhere, which made it hard to walk. But he made it home, where he prompt took off his clothes and put some pajamas on. Some real pajamas, not just his boxers this time.

He wanted to have as little skin open as possible right now. Which kind of sucked because it was hot outside despite it being nighttime. But his room was hottest in the house, so he had to go without a blanket to avoid heatstroke in his sleep.

Archie laid his head down on one of his two pillows and grabbed the other one to hold. He clutched it for dear life, as if it were the only thing keeping _Chuck_ away from him.

Hot tears started to pour out of Archie's eyes. What even just _happened?_ Why did he feel so _scared_  and _hurt_ and _disgusted? With himself. Why_  was it that he suddenly felt so small and helpless and _weak?_

Nothing had even happened, nothing graphic at least. But he still felt awful. Ashamed. 

God. _God. Everything hurts. So much._

Archie buried his face into his pillowed and continued to cry his heart out silently. Eventually crying himself to sleep, where he dreamed of nothing.

It was all just dark.

Then morning came, like nothing had ever happened.

Archie still hurt all over, but the pain had dulled some from last night. He decided it was mostly the hangover. Slowly, ever so slowly, he started to remember what happened last night. Everything that happened. And he decided he hated it whole heartedly.

 _Especially_ Chuck. Because he had played him like a goddamn fool and he wanted to **hurt** him. Now he was questioning his sexuality and everything that he is. Was. Whatever. Either way, he hated this feeling. And he didn't want to deal with it anymore. He wanted to throw himself into something and distance everything else until he felt safe enough to start being himself again.

So, he threw himself into his dad’s work, and working out. He turned down more parties in favor of working, especially if someone told him that it was going to be at Chuck's again.

And it made him feel better. Working. Working on his punches and kicks on his days off. It reassured him of himself. Made him feel stronger and more self confident. He started doing research on sexuality and the LGBT community. Sexual harassment and abuse too, and what to do.

 _Then_ he met Grundy. And all that jazz happened. He got so caught up with her that he bailed on his camping trip with Jughead. Pretty harshly too.

“Dude, we do this trip every _year._ What's gotten into you?” Jughead had said, looking hurt that his friend, one of his two only friends, had been ignoring his texts and _him_ and was bailing on their trip. What gives? Archie had only shrugged, “It's just a camping trip man, it's no big deal.” He had said, not really understanding why this was upsetting him so much. Jughead started to look even more hurt. “ ‘ _Just a trip’?_ Is that all this is to you? Have you not noticed that we've hardly hung out all summer, and that you kind of ditched me for the football team?” Jug had said, venom spilling into his voice. Archie had just shrugged, like an asshole. Jughead scoffed in disbelief, “Wow.. god. Okay. Fine.” He had spit at him, making piercing eye contact with Archie. His asshole behavior started to dawn on him. Regret started to wash over Archie's face, but Jug had already looked away, “See you around, _asshole._ ” He had said before walking off. Archie wanted to say something, anything, to get Jughead to turn around so he could apologize. Make it up to him somehow, any way that he could. He had looked so hurt and broken, and guilt started to bubble in Archie's everything. But then he got a text, from Geraldine, and his emotions were calmed and forced back subconsciously. He started writing songs. He fell in love with Music.

 

Summer went on.

 

Jason went missing. And was probably dead.

 

Things went nuts.

 

So, in a nutshell, Archie had one hell of a summer too.

And he wanted to kick Chuck's teeth in.

Which brings us back to the present, where Archie was seething and exercising an extreme amount of willpower. Just to not go over there and break Chuck’s nose.

Instead, he played football. He threw his all in there, getting him some more positive comments from coach before he pulled him off to the side. Coach thrusted a jersey at him and more or less said “Here, I want you to be on varsity this year. Since there's a spot open, we need someone with a lot of skill to step in right about now.” As Archie gingerly took the jersey out of coach's hands.

 

Oh… um...

 

“Coach… uh. This is Jason's number.” Archie said with a concerned look on his face. Coach looked a bit uncomfortable, but shrugged a bit. “Well, it's your number now. If you'll take the spot.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck. Archie frowned at the jersey again. “Varsity… isn't that-” “A bigger commitment? Yes, there will be more games and practices to keep up with.. why? Is that a problem?” Coach interrupted, looking curiously at Archie.

Yikes, a commitment like this could really bite into any time Archie would want to use for recording his music. That, and wearing Jason's old number felt… wrong to him. Out of place.

Also it meant more time being around _him._

But Archie couldn't coach _that,_ not yet at least.  

Or ever, if he had any say in the matter.

But he needed something to blame it on _something,_ so what?

“It's just… my dad wants me to start working in his office now, and he said that I'll need to start making a bigger commitment to the family business. So…” the words just rolled out of Archie's mouth, a good amount of it being a lie. Some of it was true, but mostly a lie. Coach saw his apprehension, and told him to sleep on it. To let him know as soon as possible.

Practice continued for another hour. Then Archie went into the locker rooms, ignored any sort of mockery that Chuck was trying to throw his way, and went home to shower and work on his music.

He didn't feel good about lying to both his coach and his dad. But he wasn't quite ready to tell everyone about his music.

  
Not yet, anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Archie, Eh? Next we'll see what happens on this "basically a date" date. 
> 
> The real question is, however, when the Fuck do we meet Jughead?
> 
> Leave a comment if you liked this. I could give a shit. 
> 
> (I actually do give a shit)


	4. You've Got To Be Startin' Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bonding time yo

Meanwhile, Betty and Kevin were having a study date.

And by study date, I mean complete freak out over what Betty was going to do for this date that she had unknowingly agreed to going on.

Okay, not unknowingly, but without understanding that it's a date. Either way, she had agreed, and now she was freaking out and needed to know what to do.

Was she into Veronica like that? Is it _actually_ a date or is it really just her showing her some cheer moves? Was Veronica a lesbian? Or had she been faking it so she could get closer to Betty?

 

Was she Bi? Was she Pan? Was she Ace??

 

So many questions. Such little time. And only one milkshake.

 

Kevin helped her through most of it, but freaked out with her when he didn't know what to say.

 

Like one does.

 

Kevin felt like it was his gay duty to help his small bi friend get through this troubling and confusing time. Plus Betty was paying for his milkshake so he had to stay and help.

“Well lets start plain and simple. Do you like Veronica?” Kevin asked. Betty starred at her milkshake, a look of intense concentration on her face. Well… Veronica hasn't done anything to make her _not_ like her. And she was actually really nice, and funny, and really _really_ pretty. And understanding, too. Like when Kevin told her that Betty and Archie were endgame and she told her to ask him to the dance without any disappointment? That was really sweet of her.

“Yes. I like Veronica.” Betty concluded, feeling proud of herself. Kevin gave her a bored look. “Like like? Or just Like?” He asked next. Betty deflated a bit “I don't knoooow Kev.” She whines. Kevin rolls his eyes. “Betty, you're going on a date with her in literally 24 hours. You need to figure shit out enough so that you don't lead her on.”

“But isn't the whole point of dating someone to figure out if you like like the person or not?” Betty countered, taking a sip of her strawberry milkshake. Kevin sighed a bit, “That's true, but we both know that as soon as the date is over you'll be way more confused about how you feel towards Veronica because she'll be charming, witty, amazing, and you'll totally like her a lot but not know what this means for you and Archie. So. We need to figure some of it out before hand so you don't end up crying to me about it over the phone.” Kevin explained in a bored tone. Betty frowned at him, “How could you possibly know all of that?” She asked. Kevin looked her dead in the eyes, and said one word.

 

“Ashley.”

 

Oh. Right. All of that literally happened like, twice in New York.

 

“Right. Okay. But as far as I know, I only like Veronica at this point. I've known her for like, a day.” Granted, she had learned a lot about Veronica through her late night research time. She knew about her parents, her old school life, all the hate she was getting these days. Plus the stuff that Veronica told her herself. 

 

Hey. Betty is a strong, independent woman who can get any information she needs whenever she needs it.

 

Okay? Okay. No judgement.

 

Moving on.

 

Kevin sighed again, then nodded in agreement. He took a sip of his butterscotch milkshake and looked out the window. “You know, if it turns out that you like Archie and Veronica equally, you could always just date each other.” He said smoothly, like he was just throwing it out there. Betty choked on her milkshake, making her go into a coughing fit. Pop brought her a glass of water. Kevin thanked him for her while she tried to catch her breath. “Date each _other?_ Kevin are you _insane???”_ Betty said incredulously. Kevin shrugged. “I'm just saying, polyamory is a thing that exists and is actually really healthy when treated right. It's okay to love more than one person. Monogamy isn't always the answer.” Kevin said calmly, leaning back into the booth. All Betty could do was say “You're crazy, Kevin Keller.” As she rolled her eyes and looked out of the window.

 

Her, Veronica and Archie all being in a relationship together. That's just ridiculous.

 

What next, throw Jughead into it?

 

Haha, hilarious.

 

…

 

Although…

 

Kevin watched her as Betty started to think about what it might be like dating two different people.

Excuse him, _three_ different people. She did mention Jughead, after all.

Though what she saw in that young, author version of Gerard Way, he'll never quite understand.

He decided to make another wager, seeing as Betty's pupils had dilated as she continued to think on the subject.

“Betty Cooper, I want to set another bet. I bet that you, Miss.Blue-Jasmine, Red stallion and/or that Quentin Tarantino wannabe will all be dating in some way, shape, or form, by lets say… the middle of winter? Maybe late winter, I'm feeling generous.” Kevin spoke with the confidence of a man who had nothing to loose. And with this wager, he technically didn't. But it got Betty's attention.

 

Because it probably wouldn't happen.

 

Though… probably is what she had said about her sexuality at the end of the last school year. So maybe she shouldn't this time?

 

But late winter? That was so close, in retrospect. So there was no way.

 

“Fine. How much?” Betty concluded, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back into her booth. Kevin did that little “evil mastermind” thing with his hands as he grinned maliciously. “20 and a pizza.” Betty's eyes widened. “You've got that much faith in this?” She asked in that incredulous tone again, her eyebrows knitting together. “I'm as serious as Moose's bulging muscles.” Kevin said playfully, his mind now wondering to those beautiful biceps and that luscious torso. He almost missed Betty saying “You're on, Keller.” As she extended her hand to close the deal. He snapped out of his thoughts enough to shake her hand before he started rambling about how _fucking gorgeous those muscles are, Betty, its not fair._

Let's skip forward to the next day, which went as smoothly as it could. Veronica was able to make her way around Riverdale High with way more ease than most people would have. “I went to a much larger school than this back in New York,” she had told everyone at lunch, making it seem like not so big of a deal. “This place is like nothing.” She shrugged, picking at her salad.

They had listened to a bit more of Archie's stuff, which was actually improving as time went on. Both Betty and Veronica were proud. Kevin wasn't really paying attention, too distracted on his phone. Then they talked about stuff, anything, really. Archie and Betty asked Veronica questions about her life back in New York that they already low-key knew the answer to, but it was better to ask her and have her tell them than to accidentally bring it up and try to explain themselves. In return, Veronica asked both of them about their lives. Their families, aspirations, and funny stories from their collective childhood. Since Archie and Betty basically grew up together.

“Remember that one time when me and Jughead tried to make a piñata for your birthday? We got so caught up in making it that we forgot to put any candy inside, so you just beat up the pinata anyways.” Betty recalled fondly, giggling a little every now and then. The mention of Jughead hurt him a bit, he still hasn't apologized to him yet for being such an asshole. But the memory was a good one, so Archie cracked a smile. “Yeah, and when I was done me and Jug just took the bag of candy and ripped it apart and dumped it onto the ground with the piñata's remains.” Archie continued, his own giggles escaping him as he recalled it. Both of them lost it in a fit of laughter. Kevin grinned slightly, but stayed glued to his phone. Veronica was laughing, too, enjoying these obviously hilarious stories of young childhood. She could only imagine a young, scrawny Archie Andrews giving hell to some poor paper mache figure while the bright, blonde seven year old Betty ripped open a bag of assorted candies with utter giddiness. She didn't know who Jughead was, but she put a random figure of a kid in there too, just for realistic purposes.

Of course, Veronica didn't have many of those kind of stories. Ones of actual enjoyment with some really close friends, rather than just her classmates that her parents would always invite over. She was friends with them all, mind you, but she didn't really have a “Best Friend” growing up. She didn't need one. Money is the ultimate cure for loneliness.

But no matter, that wasn't important.

“So what about you, Ronnie? Do you have any funny birthday stories?” Archie asked after he had calmed down from his laughter high. Veronica perked up with the new nickname, which she couldn't help but adore.

Betty adored it too, for the record. She was actually kind of sad that she didn't come up with it.

“Well I don't think I have any funny childhood birthday parties, but I spent my 12th birthday with my parents. They wanted to try and make it special so my mom tried to bake me a cake and my dad tried to make dinner. We thought that Dad had everything under control, but when we tried his soup we almost choked on it…” Veronica started to trail off into a fit of laughter, “H-He used powdered sugar instead of salt!” She finishes before dissolving into her own bubbling laughter, taking Archie and Betty along with her.

The table laughed for like a solid 30 seconds. Which was weird, because it wasn't _that_ funny. But I guess the idea of a billionaire making soup and not noticing the difference between powdered sugar and salt was kind of hilarious.

When Veronica got her laughter under some control she continued with “He was so disheartened that he gave up and ordered take out. Then my mom tried to bake the cake but she burned it so bad it looked like a hockey puck!” She giggled. Betty sighed happily “Oh man, I totally get that. I'm terrible at baking. The first pie I helped my mom bake ended up burning to a crisp. But the fruity filling was still pretty good, so we just scraped off the top layer and ate the inside with spoons.” Betty eyes warmed at the memory. She didn't have many good ones with her mother, so it delt nice to remember a time where she was happy with her.

Archie stretched his arms out a bit, a smug grin breaking out on his face. “Well, ladies, I'll have you know that I am a great baker. I used to bake cookies and brownies with my mom all the time.” He boasted good heartedly. Betty slowly started to nod, then her eyes lit up again. “Oh my god, remember your cookie brownies?? Those were sooo good.” She cried out happily. Archie's grin widened “Oh man, I haven't made them in ages!!” He chuckled, leaning forward to rest his arms on the table. Veronica raised her eyebrows, a puzzled look on her face. “What are cookie brownies?” She asked, which made Archie's eyes light up this time. “It's where take cookie dough and throw it into the brownie batter before you bake it. I'm like, 89% sure that I made those first and Domino's stole it from me.” He explained happily, probably in the best mood he's been in for a long time. “Ooh yum!! You'll have to make them for me sometime.” Veronica grinned, leaning her head on her hands. Archie's grin widened tenfold. “Will do. Hey I gotta go, I'll see you guys around!” Archie said as he gathered his things once again, like he did yesterday, and headed off towards the school they bid him farewell.

“So, Betty, when do you want to come over?” Veronica asked, easily devoting her near full attention to Betty. Kevin, reminded of the date that “wasn't _really_ a date but still a date”, turned his focus onto their conversation full-heartedly. Still scrolling through his phone though.

At the reminder of the “not but is a date” date, her cheeks flushed a light pink shade. She looked away from Veronica, trying her best to play it cool. “Oh you know, whenever you want me there I'll be there. I'm flexible.” Betty tried casually, but she ended up sounding a little too fake with it. Veronica cocked her head to the side ever so slightly. “O...Kay, you can just come home with me after school then. We'll work on the basics and try to put together a routine for tomorrow.” She said, her voice having a confused edge to it. Betty contorted her face into a smile, even though she was kind of freaking out inside. She was going to _Veronica’s home._

 

Why she was freaking out? She had no real idea.

It seemed kind of personal? Especially for someone you've known for all of three days and was already crushing on you.

Then again, where would they have gone anyways?

So they school day goes by way faster than Betty expects it to. She meets Veronica by her locker and they both head to a luxurious black car waiting for them. The car drives them to what Betty thought was an apartment complex, and a fancy one at that. But, upon entering, she was met with reality that this was more of a penthouse. Not an apartment.

 

And _holy shit everything looks expensive._

 

Betty suddenly felt her born ability to move her limbs fail her. She became incapacitated in the doorway as she took it all in in front of her. Veronica just waltzed in, threw her jacket onto a hook and gracefully took off her shoes.

She was wearing tennis shoes today, because she knew she was going to practice today. So she opted for more workout suitable clothes, a nice pair of leggings and a cute blue t-shirt rather than a dress and heels.

 

Also who wears heals to school? Like ever? That's so uncomfortable??

 

But Veronica was Extra like that.

 

Betty felt like she should have been wearing some sort of fancy dress. She debated on just bolting for the door now so she didn't make a fool of herself in the eyes of money and luxury. But she remembered that she could no longer move, so she just stayed put for now.

Veronica gave her a curious look, letting an unsure smile fall upon her currently dark purple lips. “C’mon Betty, I'll give you the tour.” She winked as she walked off into the penthouse. Betty, by some miracle undisclosed to her, somehow regained her ability to move and almost robotically followed Veronica.

Whether that means that she just automatically followed Veronica, or that she robot walked her way after Veronica, will be left to your imagination.

Veronica took Betty on a tour of her beautiful home, and Betty listened carefully to her words so she wouldn't be so intimidated by the wealth surrounding her. This penthouse had like, four bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms. Which is about what Betty's bigger than your average house has. Which is insane. For the penthouse, that is. It also had a very extravagant dining room, kitchen, and living room. After the tour, Veronica brought Betty into her room. Which made Betty panic way more than she needed to.

The room matched the house in terms of expensiveness. It was painted a lovely shade of blue with that white trim that made it look double rich. The bed was straight ahead of them, a large queen sized one with elegant white sheets and a different blue color that also matched the room. To the left of door was a beautiful antique mirror that looked like it could tell you who the fairest of them all was. Under the mirror was a small desk with loads of expensive makeup inside and on top of it. To the right of the door was a nice, average sized wooden desk in front of a large window that overlooked the city. Betty could imagine Veronica sitting there doing her homework and looking wistfully out of the window with a smile on her face.

There was also a few personal touches to the room, like a mannequin that was wearing one of Veronica's dresses for some reason, a pot of flowers on the nightstand next to her bed, some paintings and stuff. You know.. stuff.

There was also plenty of room to learn some cheerleading.

It should probably be mentioned that, at this point, Veronica thinks that Betty doesn't think of this as a date so she's trying not to act like it is or something that will make her uncomfortable. Because Veronica respects boundaries. So she's playing it cool. For the most part.

Betty’s face was _adorable_ when she first came inside, which made Veronica blush ever so slightly and butterflies started flittering in her stomach.

“You can just throw your backpack on my bed, and we'll do some stretches.” She said casually as she strutted into hee bedroom,  threw her own backpack onto her bed and proceeded to stretch out her arms. Betty followed her into the bedroom and went to place her backpack onto the bed when she got completely distracted by Veronica's ass.

She had been bending over to do some toe touches, and that perfect ass in those leggings just kinda almost gave Betty a heart attack. She missed the bed completely and her backpack fell to the floor with a large thud. Betty squeaked at the noise, flushing profusely as she quickly picked up her backpack while saying something along the lines of “Oops! Sorry, sorry…” Veronica looked at her from between her legs, ass still facing Betty. “You good?” She asked with a smile. “Yeah! Yeah I'm good just kinda… missed the bed.” Betty lied lamely. Her face totally pink.

Veronica took this small moment, while upside down (kinda), to casually sneak a peak at Betty's ass. She stiffed a grin. A white girl ass, but still a nice ass all and all.

She laughed, straightened up and turned towards her with one hand on her hip. “You're so cute Betty.” She commented innocently, but it only made Betty blush more. Her own butterflies rummaging through her stomach.

After that and some good ol’ stretching warm up exercise, the two lovely ladies started to work on various cheerleading stuff. I never got into that shit, so I can't really tell you all of the details about their stuff other than it was both cheesy and yet, somehow, really impressive.

 

Cheerleading will always baffle me.

 

Betty followed Veronica's instructions and mimed her movements. She wasn't half bad, for a beginner, and she was a fast learner. Veronica admired that. They were able to put together a routine pretty quickly, Veronica putting together the actual routine and Betty supplying the cheer they would use. She put together a few quick rhymes based off of what she had heard at football games and what not. Overall, the routine was actually pretty good, and showed off enough talent from both of them to probably get them onto the team. They went through it a few more times before taking a break.

Betty bent over a bit to catch hed breath, placing her hands on her knees. “I didn't know I was _that_ out of shape.” She breathed, letting her ponytail flop to one side. She felt sweaty and gross, but pretty damn proud of herself. Veronica placed one hand of her hip and smiled wide at her, also breathing heavily. “I'm impressed, though. You're doing so well for someone who hasn't cheered before. Maybe watching your sister’s cheer talent rubbed off on you, plus you're a really fast learner.” She complimented generously. Betty didn't remember mentioning that Polly was a cheerleader. But she let it slide, too tired to care too much right now. “I'll get us some water. You can sit down if you want to.” Veronica said casually as she headed towards the kitchen, her hips swaying gently.

Veronica also couldn't remember if Betty had mentioned Polly being a cheerleader or if she had found that out while she was doing some late night research on her. She knew Archie was a football star, and Betty was basically the smartest person ever, but she kinda forgot what she already knew about her parents.

If you're confused, this is just pointing out that they all researched each other upon meeting each other and, honestly, what else could you expect from them?

 

Moving on.

 

Betty sat herself down on Veronica's bed after getting her heartbeat under control. She looked around the room again before laying down on the bed with a sigh. Not really sure what she was sighing at; the fact that she was in a mansion version of an apartment with one of the prettiest girls ever, the idea that she might actually have a shot with her relationship wise, or that she was really liking this cheerleading thing and was going to try out for the squad. _Cheryl Blossom’s_ cheerleading squad too. Her mom would flip. 

Her mom was probably going to flip.

 

Ugh.

 

All of the ideas seemed to be completely ridiculous.

Then Veronica came back to remind her that two of them were already a reality, and the other was one that was very, _very_ possible.

Veronica held out a glass of water and Betty took it gratefully. Unaware of how thirsty she was, Betty drank deeply. Which was also impressive, as she way laying down while she drank and somehow  didn't spill water all over herself like an idiot. Veronica grinned a bit and sat down next to her, taking a sip of her own water.

Betty sat up, faced her, and crossed her legs. “So, Veronica, tell me about yourself.” She asked in a friendly tone. Veronica thought for a moment, then placed her cup on the floor and crossed her legs too. “Well, I'm a Libra, I'm right handed, my favorite subject in school is probably civics, ironically, and my favorite color is purple.” Veronica listed simply, as if they were actually important things to know. Betty smiled, which made Veronica smile. “Alright, you're turn. Tell me all about you, Betty Cooper.” Veronica said as she leaned back onto the various pillows that took up almost half of her bed. Betty sighed a bit, and looked up at the ceiling in thought. “Hmm… Well, my favorite color is pink. Or a nice light, pastel blue. Kinda like a Tiffany blue. But I usually go with pinks, for the most part. My star sign is a Taurus. My favorite school subject is English, and I'm really not fond of science. But apparently I'm pretty good at it, so I guess there's that…” Betty started to feel like she was rambling. Veronica listened carefully to her, made sure to remember as many details as she could, just so she would be able to pick stuff out for her when they started dating. For like birthdays and Christmas and stuff.

 

You know, cause she cared.

 

“So how long have you known Archie?” Veronica asked after Betty had stopped rambling. She tensed a bit at the mention of Archie, “Since we were like, three. We've been friends for all of our lives. It was always me and Archie. And Jughead, too, but mostly me and Archie. We're neighbors, after all.” Betty said, again in too much detail. “It must be hard to try and get him to look at you as more than a friend, after being friends for so long.” Veronica commented in a meaningful way, like she was empathizing with her on her inability to get someone she had known for forever.

A weird thing to empathize on, but Betty appreciated it none get less.

“Ha, yeah I guess it is… but it's not like I've really put that much into it, you know? I haven't like.. full out asked him out or anything. I always get too nervous and start stuttering.” Betty started to feel pretty bashful. “I've never been that good with words around people I like, I either end up stutter on every other word, like I'm Porky Pig or something. Or I start to ramble on like an idiot and can't seem to stop talking for a second…” Betty rambled/explained. Veronica couldn't help but feel a bit giddy. Her rambling suggested she was interested in her, which means that Veronica had a shot.

Just a little more open honesty time.

“I totally get that. Y'know, back when I was first dating my signifs, I would always get super flushed and nervous when we would hold hands or try to get all lovey or something. I was so bad at expressing how I felt that I would end up not talking at all and just gesturing wildly to get my point across.” Veronica talked easily, recalling those memories easily, and ignoring the pangs in her heart as she remembered the good times with those two. They subsided, however, when Betty giggled a bit at her story. Veronica was really cute when flustered. But she also said signifs… which led to a lot of questions. “So… you dated someone back in New York?” Betty asked no-so-casually. Now it was Veronica's turn to tense. “Actually, someones. Plural.” Veronica said as she looked to the side. “Like, different people at the same time?” Betty asked cautiously. Was she some sort of player? Veronica caught on by her tone of voice and snickered a bit. “Well yes, but not in the way that you're thinking. I'm polyamorous, which means I'm okay with being in relationship that involves more tha just one person. I'm also Bisexual, if I'm going to put that out there.” Veronica suddenly became serious. “Before I came here, I was dating these two people… Jasmine and Charlie. It uh… didn't end well.” she put simply. Betty's aura became more serious too, as she nodded slowly to what Veronica was saying. “I'm sorry to hear that.” she said softly, looking genuine about it.

Right, polyamory. Kevin had told her about that, she probably should have guessed that.

“Um… I-I know this is probably weird to say right now, but if it makes you feel any better, there are plenty of LGBT+ people at Riverdale. I mean, you've met Kevin. And um... I'm… well I'm..” Betty swallowed. She hasn't told anyone else this besides Kevin. “I'm b-bisexual too.” She finally spit out. Veronica's eyes gleamed excitedly. “Really?” She asked hopefully. Like she wanted to make sure she was telling the truth. Betty let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and nodded her head. Veronica seemed to glow with happiness. “That's wonderful Betty!! I'm so glad you told me. I almost thought I was going to be the only one in Riverdale to be open with my sexuality. Well, me and Kevin that is. But-” Veronica was about to start spouting off about being open in school when Betty stopped her “Oh, no I'm not out yet. I just figured it out this summer. Like, just about three weeks ago.” Betty interrupted. Veronica paused for a moment, then frowned.

“Is this place homophobic?” She almost whispered, as if homophobes could hear them through the walls and a story high up in a penthouse. Betty put on a nervous smile. “Well, it's not the friendliest, I would say. But ever since Kevin came out and the new mayor was elected, people have been trying to be way more accepting. With Kevin being the sheriff's son and the mayor being both female and African American, they didn't really have a choice.” Betty explained. “So there's reason why more people shouldn't be out, as everyone should be more accepting this time around, but there's a lot of internalized homophobia out there that it's hard for people not be… you know, assholes.” She said, trying to end on something that's just a _little_ funny, at least. Veronica chuckled a bit. “Gotcha. So you're not out yet because..” “Because I'm still trying to figure things out. For the most part. I know that I can be sexually attracted to both men and women, so I'm with bisexual. But I'm also still trying to figure things out with Archie, so if it all goes well with him, then I won't _have_ to come out. It won't necessarily be… well, Necessary.” Betty explained poorly. But Veronica saw her way in. She leaned a bit closer to Betty. “So, then. What would happen if you ended up…. Oh, I don't know, dated a girl instead of a boy?” She said with a curious smile on her face. Betty felt like bursting into flames on the spot. “W-w-well I-I…” Betty tried to connect some sounds together to form something that would be recognized as an actual, comprehendible language but it just wasn't going that way.

Veronica laughed as she bent over to pick her water back up. “It's okay Betty, I'm just messing with you. No need to get so flustered.” She said happily before taking a drink of water. Betty felt herself relax a bit more, though her cheeks still felt like they were burned with a hot skillet. She opted to take a drink of her water to calm herself down.

“But, y’know, you're really cute when you get flustered. Adorable even.” Veronica said in that causa voice again, like she wasn't obviously flirting. So obviously that, this time around, Betty actually picked up on it. She choked on her water. “U-UH-” she stuttered loudly, which only made Veronica laugh more. “Your face!!” She cried in laughter.

Betty was honestly so confused at this point. 

How was she even supposed to react to literally everything that's happening right now? Veronica was totally flirting with her right now and Betty doesn't get flirted with often, so how does she even respond? Does she laugh along with her like “Haha yeah I'm adorable” or does she compliment her back and if she did would that also be flirting? And is that cheating on Archie or something???

 

Okay no, it wasn't cheating on Archie. Cause they're not together. But it feels like it. Kinda.

 

At least it did to Betty.

 

But was she just supposed to ignore it and move on??

 

What's the _fucking protocol for these situations holy shit_ Betty was about to loose her mind with flustered-ness. She made a fist on her lap and squeezed to try and relieve some of this angry confused tension.

But Veronica had calmed down enough to notice that Betty was looking pretty lost and frustrated. Maybe laughing at her cuteness wasn't the correct choice right now. _But she's_ so _cute,_ Veronica thought for a fleeting moment. But enough was enough, time to stop fooling around get to the task at hand.

“Hey, Betty?” Veronica started, placing a hand on the one curled in Betty’s lap, her expression one of sincerity and, oddly enough, happiness. “Look, I didn't mean to make you so flustered.. Okay I kinda did but I didn't mean to upset you in any sort of way. I just… well…” How should she put this? “Well, if I'm completely candid, I totally like you. A lot.” Betty shrieked internally. _Holy shit she likes me shitshitshit what do I do fuck._  “But… now that I'm saying it out loud, I realize that we don't know like, anything personal about each other. And I'd like to get to know you better before we were to make anything official or something. Become your best friend before I become your girlfriend, you know?” She spoke with the confidence of someone who doesn't get turned down a lot did. All Betty could do was stare at her. She was, quite literally, at a loss for words. Again. Because of Veronica. Again.

Veronica looked at her hopefully, searching Betty's face for some sort of sign of whatever was going on inside her head. “And, you know, I wouldn't want to rush you into a relationship with someone who you've only known for like, three days. This isn't a Disney movie.” She added quickly, rolling her eyes at the disney remark. “Plus you don't seem comfortable with coming out just yet either, which is totally okay too. I don't want to push you into anything at all, I want you to feel comfortable to do whatever it is that you want to do. Especially when it comes to coming out, because I want you to be safe and not kicked out of your house or something.” Now it was Veronica's turn to start rambling. Betty still wasn't responding to her and she worried that she had come on too strong just now.

Of _course_ she had come on too strong, this was like the fourth chapter of the fic how could she already confess so soon?? People usually wait until the ends of their writing to confess their feelings, what was she _doing_ confessing so early??? Was it poor planning on the writer's part?

Probably. But let's roll with it. 

Well, Veronica wasn't really one to hide her feelings. She liked to express them openly instead of repressing them into herself and letting them drive her crazy. Cause if she tried to bottle everything up she'd probably go crazy. She had learned that, if she was forward with people, it would leave less room for any miscommunication between her and whoever else.

After a moment, she felt Betty's hand relax underneath hers. Betty took in a deep breath and sighed it out. “I… honestly don't know what to say.” She said after like solid three minutes of not saying anything. “I'm… I'm flattered, really. It's crazy to think that someone like you would want to date someone like me. And I don't just mean that in the gay sense but in the personality sense.” Betty started talking way easier now, as if her thoughts were flowing out of her in some sort of coherent form  _like normal humans!_

Hoorah!!

_Not in the most thought out way, but she was doing better._

“And you're right, we do hardly know each other, and I'd like us to get to know each other more before we were to get into anything... serious…” Betty continued. “And I'm also not sure how to go about any of this now. I've been so convinced that I was going to end up with Archie, and that I only really liked Archie, that I never quite given much thought into dating anyone else. Well, I have of course, but like… not outside of the opposite gender, that is, until this summer.” And suddenly Betty was telling Veronica all about her summer in New York. All about Ashley, and Lin, and everything in between.

It's funny how people can go from completely speechless to unable to _stop talking_ at the flip of a hat.

Veronica listened intently, taking in ever word Betty said to her. Which Betty noticed, and made her feel very happy inside.

People didn't often completely listen to Betty, so it was nice when they actually did.

Once she was done with her whole schpeal about how she came across her gayness, she added “And I have no idea how my parents would react. They've been.. weird since Polly left. I hardly feel like I can talk to them about my grades, let alone my sexuality.” She laid back onto the bed again with a sigh. “So far, the only people who know that I'm bisexual is you and Kevin.” She concluded. She slow blinked at the ceiling.

Veronica finished off her water and laid on her side so she could look at Betty. “That's… really rough, Betty, I'm sorry. But I'm honored and happy that you trust me enough to know your sexuality.” Was all she could think to say off the top of her head. Betty shrugged. Or did the best she could at shrugging while she was laying down. “It's not all bad. I don't regret what happened in New York. Not at all. Ashley's the greatest. It's just… conflicting… you know? I've loved Archie for so long, hardly thought about anyone else, and yet I…” she trailed off.

She could have finished that sentence a number of ways. “And yet I'm not even sure if he loves me back.” Or “And yet I'm still not able to tell him” Or “And yet I might be achieving some new feelings for other people, crushing on someone new.” would have all worked.

 “And yet I really like you.” would have been my choice.

Because it was true, Betty really did like Veronica. She just couldn't see how it would work out with each other just yet. Mostly because she still felt like she wanted Archie.

 

(A place where polyamory would make everything better but Betty isn't quite with the program yet.)

 

Anyways.

 

Veronica nodded, took Betty’s hand gently and smiled at her. “It's okay if you don't want to make a decision yet. These things are hard to figure out, and I don't blame you for feeling confused and conflicted. Whatever you decide to do is up to you completely. I'll be happy with whatever makes you happy.” She half lied. Of course she would respect Betty's boundaries and her decision regardless on if it benefitted her or not. But she'll admit, only to herself that is, that she'd be pretty bummed if Betty didn't want to date her.

But being friends would still be better than nothing, right?

 

….

 

Actually, yes. This time around.

Betty cracked a smile at Veronica and gently squeezed the hand holding hers. “Thanks, Veronica. I really appreciate that.” She said softly. Veronica beamed and squeezed her hand back before letting go and standing up “Of course, darling. Now let's get back to practicing.”

  
And they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty. Date done. Poorly. But it's done. 
> 
> Next time we'll see some classroom stuff and the cheerleading tryouts. 
> 
> Cool? Cool. 
> 
> Leave some feedback or something.


	5. Heard That You Were Talking Shit, And You Didn't Think That I Would Hear It?

Alrighty, Next day. Tryouts and what have you.

The day starts out normal enough. Like any other day.

Except there's already a partner project in English and Veronica is _dreading it_ because she hates basically everyone in it.

It's the one class she doesn't have with either Betty, Kevin, or Archie.

 

Total Bummer™

 

As soon as the teacher announces it, everyone's looking around for their friends and doing that little understanding nod that honestly everyone does it's so weird.

Everyone, except for Veronica and some brooding kid in the back.

Veronica just slumps in her desk with a small groan. Maybe she could do it alone?

It doesn't seem that hard. All she would have to do is put together a quick PowerPoint explaining what she believed some poem from a bunch she had never heard of before.

 

Didn't seem that hard.

 

“Last requirement: Everyone _must_ have a partner. Its only the third day of school, don't start it off by being a 'loner’ or whatever you kids say these days.” The teacher said, a faint sense of pride in using a “teen slang word” in her voice.

This time everyone in the room groaned to themselves. Veronica tried not to whine out loud.

The teacher dismissed them with the details on the chalk board.

She was also one of those teachers that preferred the old tech to the new tech. Which was weird but whatever, she's the teacher.

Veronica glumly looked around the room for anyone who wasn’t already teamed up. She saw a girl in the back that looked like she would be her partner, but she saw some other girl laughing with her and her heart sank a bit.

Was there _anybody_ left?

She scanned the room again and saw the boy in the back typing and brooding away on his computer. He had a very strong “Leave me alone” vibe around him, but Veronica needed a partner so she ignored it. She grabbed her stuff and walked over to his desk.

“Hey,” she greeted politely. The boy looked up at her while his hands continued to type away at his laptop. Which was kinda cool, but also kinda… weird. Veronica recognized him as the hoy guy she spotted in the cafeteria awhile ago. Put that all aside, she continued with “My name is Veronica. I think we're the only two left in the class to do this godforsaken project.” Her face looking glumly at the chalkboard. But she turned back to him and offered a forced smile, “So, as John Ray once said, 'Misery loves company’. I guess we're partners now.” She conclude confidently. His hands paused mid word, and he just starred at her. His expression one of mostly boredom, but also a glint of intrigue. Veronica stared back at him, keeping her aura of confidence around her strong. He squinted at her and nodded to the desk next to him. “Alright, then. Sit.” He said smoothly, his fingers typing out the last bit of whatever he was writing, then saved it and opened a new document. All the while Veronica felt achieved as she dragged the desk so it was next to his.

“So… What were you writing?” She tried for a bit of small talk. “My memoir. I'm writing about this year and Jason Blossom’s death.” He answered in some sort of sarcastic edged monotone voice. He didn't seem all that pleased with her efforts of small talk, but she nodded anyways “Oh, neat.” She said profoundly, giving him a bit of a nod. He cracked the smallest of grins. “I guess. What poem do you want to analyze?” He changed the subject back to the assignment at hand. Veronica looked at the board again, squinting at the list of possible poems to analyze. “How about… the one that Mao Zedong wrote about communism in China?” She offered. It seemed interesting enough. The boy's raised his eyebrows at her and leaned back in his chair a bit, a look of mild surprise on his face. 

“Alright, comrade, sure. But I would've thought that you were more of a Shakespearean kind of person.” He said causally as he started to look up the poem. Veronica shrugged with a grin, “His poems aren't all that great. His plays are better but still… not exactly worth all the hype.” She commented just as casually. Which earned her a chuckle from the other. “Plus he's responsible for the basic plot of every awful 'star-crossed lovers’ movie ever since.” He said semi-bitterly. Veronica laughed a bit and added “Say what you will about Twilight, but Lion King Two was pure goal.” Which actually made him laugh. Not for long, but it was an actual laugh of humor, not sarcastic or tasteless or bitter.

 

Which, if you knew him, was really weird of him to do. Ever.

 

They spent the rest of the class like that. Doing their work while cracking sophisticated yet not sophisticated jokes every now and then and laughing about it. They took to calling each other comrade. It was nice. It was easy and carefree, and not boring or glum or teenager drama ridden. Veronica liked it a lot.

 

And, from the looks of it, he did too.

 

When the end of class drew near, Veronica got up and moved the desk back over to it's original spot and faced the guy. “So. We'll read the rest of the poem, annotate it, and we'll write down what we think it means and discuss it tomorrow?” She offered, counting off the steps on her fingers. The boy typed out a few more things on his laptop before packing the rest of his belongings into his bag. “Sure, sounds easy enough.” He said before closing his laptop and standing up. He look at her out of the corner of his eye. “To be continued, Comrade.” He said with a small grin. Veronica grinned back at him. A grin that turned into a frown after like, two seconds. “Oh, hey what's your actual name by the way? Just so I don't just call you comrade all the time.” She asked as she sat on top of a desk. He shrugged, picked his laptop off of his desk and flung his backpack over his shoulder. “Well, my name isn't much weirder than comrade. So you don't have to fret about that.” his voice took on that sarcastic edge again. Veronica rolled her eyes a bit “Well, I'll be the judge of it. What is it?” She asked again.

 

“Jughead. Jughead Jones the Third.”

 

Veronica looked completely and utterly _shocked._

 

But the bell rang, and Jughead nodded a quick goodbye to her before heading out of the classroom.

 

Jughead.

 

First of all, who names their kid _Jughead_?

 

Of all the names out there, every single one of them, someone picked Jughead.

 

It's like they wanted him to get teased _._ No wonder he has such a moody disposition.

 

But, anyways, that was Jughead. _The_ Jughead. The third amigo to Archie and Betty. The one that helped Betty make a paper mache piñata, then ripped open a bag of candy with Archie.

 

Two very preppy, popular people were/still kind of are best friends with _this guy._

 

He was like, their polar opposite in terms of everything. From the looks of it at least.

 

Veronica made a mental note to talk to Betty about him later.

 

Especially when he's totally a sweetheart soft boy too like what the hell.

 

Veronica had only known him for all of an hour, but she totally wasn't buying his whole brooding thing. Depression? Sure. Anxious? Probably.

 

Some in general mental health issues?

 

Abso-fucking-lutly.

 

But all this brooding, mystery, emo loner guy that would totally make some 13 year old’s emo phase complete? Over Veronica’s dead body.

For the solid hour that Veronica had had with Jughead, she had come to understand Jughead as a complete and total nerd who liked old movies, had a brilliant talent for literature, and was pretty much the most sarcastic person on the planet.

And there was something that was bringing him down. Like some metaphorical stone that was weighing him down constantly. Like something happened to him that made him think that he wasn't worth it.

 

It wasn't fair. As far as Veronica was concerned, Jughead deserved nothing but the occasional hug.

 

“Occasional” being the word she would use because Veronica _highly_ doubted that he would let her hug him all the time.

 

Regardless, Veronica decided she would talk to Betty about it at lunch.

 

Which she promptly forgot to do once lunch rolled around.

 

It was nearing time to go to class. Kevin had already left by the whim of teasing some poor kid who was Not Ready for all the charm Kevin Keller had to offer. Archie was packing up his guitar, they had gotten a Lice Performance today, and was about to head out when Jughead popped into Veronica's mind again. “Oh! By the way, I finally met that Jughead kid you guys keep talking about.” She said in that “sudden realization” tone that was mostly used by wine moms when they haven't seen each other in awhile.

Betty lit up with joy, and Archie looked like a deer in headlights. “Oh really?? That's awesome!!! I haven't seen him in so long, I never got the chance to meet up with him over the summer, and I haven't seen him around school yet. Where'd you two meet?” Betty said excitedly, a small glimmer in her eyes. Archie continued to pack up and look totally causal, but was hanging on pretty much every word Veronica said.

 

She could _always_ tell when a boy is acting like he didn't care.

 

“He's in my English call, actually. We're partners on this poem slideshow thing. He seems pretty nice, and I like his sense of humor.” Veronica reached for the last bit of her lemonade and bringing it to her lips, then added “Not to mention hot.” Before downing the bit of her drink while eyeing the blushes that had formed on both Betty and Archie’s face.

 

Oooo… Interesting.

 

Veronica tried to not look so pleased, but she couldn't help it. “Well uh… Nice! I'll have to find him at some point to hang out. Maybe all four of us could get together at some point?” Betty tried to ignore it, but the way she phrased it was only giving Veronica more interesting ideas. “Sounds like fun,” Veronica chimed in with a hint of mischief, “Right, Arch?” She said as if she was teasing him. Archie, worrying that he had let on too much already, blushed despite himself. “Uh, Yeah. Yeah sounds fun. I'll catch you guys later.” He said as he bolted off, hoping he didn't seem too suspicious.

 

He did. So much so that Betty caught onto it.

 

“Hmm…” she hummed with a frown. Deciding that it was best left to later, she turned towards Veronica. “So! Feel ready for tryouts today?” Veronica asked cheerily, before Betty had a chance to say anything.

 

And, of course, all the stress Betty had been feeling all day came rushing back to her. This was made obvious by the loss of color in her face and the general slump of her body as she collapsed in on herself a bit. Veronica found it relatable. “I feel like I'm gonna mess up so badly.” Betty mumbled glumly. “Like I'll get so nervous I'll throw up on the court or accidentally punch you in the face or my shoe will fly off with the kick and hit Cheryl’s which wouldn't be unamusing butshewouldprobablygetmadandIwouldntgetonthedmteamandshecouldkickyoufromtheteamjustfromassociationansWhatIf…” Betty was suddenly talking a mile a minute, a look of panic in her eyes as her anxious thought spilled from her pink lips like a waterfall.

 

Veronica sighed a bit and placed a hand on Betty’s shoulder. “Betty…. Betty… BETTY!” She all but yelled over Betty's rambling. Betty stopped mid word, “Mis-Oh sorry. What were you saying?” She asked meekly, a bit embarrassed that she rambled like that. Veronica’s frown melted at her tone, and she gave her a smile. “Betty. You're going to do just fine. Probably better than fine. And if your shoe flies off and hits Cheryl, she kinda has it coming. I believe in you.” She pep talked while moving her hand down from Betty's shoulder to hold her hand. When she finished, she gave it a little squeeze and let go. Betty hadn't even noticed until she felt her hand being squeezed, but the more Veronica talked to her and gave her reassuring touches, the more confident she became. It was like magic. Betty's anxious look cracked into a smile. “Thanks Veronica…” she said softly. Veronica beamed at her, “Of course Betty dear. Now lets get through the day and I'll meet you at the lockers.” She said in her “can do attitude coach” voice before she stood from the table, gracefully swooped up her tray and bag, and walked with Betty back into the school.

 

And On they went.

 

We'll get back to them later. Let's see what Archie's doing right now.

 

We find Archie lost in his thoughts as he half asses his way to class. He was trying to plan the rest of the day in his head, and well… Time Management wasn't always Archie's strong suit.

 

(You can skip this next paragraph it's only meant to show you his thinking progress?)

 

Today was a Thursday, which means that there would be football practice today after school. Practice will probably last until Five, or was it half past five? Either way, he could shower here, book it home to get his homework done, then spend the rest of the night working on his song. Or maybe he could just shower at home, then speed through his homework, then work on his song? Wait, he's also got chores to do at home. Plus aren't cheerleading practices going on today? He should probably stop by to see how it all went with Betty and Veronica. So maybe it'd be more convenient for him to shower here, meet the girls, _then_ book it home for homework and chores, THEN he could work on his music. But what if the girls wanted to go out for milkshakes? He couldn't say no to a milkshake. Or a burger. God, a burger and onion rings sounds _so good_ right now-

Suddenly, Archie's shoulder collided with someone elses. His train of thought disappeared as he looked behind him to apologize, when he came face to face with none other than Chuck, with his signature “eat shit” smile and all.

 

Archie became a small sized ball of rage.

 

Fire raged within his eyes as he said nothing to him. Not one single word.

 

“What, no 'Sorry’ Archibaby?” Chuck teased in an almost flirty way that made the boys around him chuckle.

 

Archie became a slightly bigger ball of rage.

 

“I’ll fucking apologize to you, Chuck Clayton, when all of heaven and hell freezes over.” He spat at him with such distain and hatred that the rest of Chuck's groups “ooo-ed” in second-hand burn. Chuck raised his hands in defense, the same way with the same look that he had that night, except for a knowing glimmer in his eyes. “No need to get so angry, ginger, it doesn't fit you.” He said calmly.

 

Now Archie was a very large ball of rage.

 

If the minute warning bell hadn't gone off, Archie would have attacked him right there. But the bell gave him an opportunity to let a crowd of people rush into the hallway and sweep the two of them apart. Archie felt his face heat up with unexpressed rage as he marched off to his classroom.

 

Entirely unaware that a certain curious and broody guy had overheard all of that, and was staring at Archie with a mix of confusion and concern in his dark eyes.

 

Those eyes followed him until he was out of sight. Once gone, Jughead Jones was left with one, very important question.

 

_What's going on with Archie?_

 

So that's that, the school day came to a close. Archie went off to practice while avoiding both Chuck and Archie's coach, who was no doubt looking for Archie's answer on joining varsity. Betty and Veronica met up at the girls locker rooms and got ready for their tryouts. Jughead had headed to the Drive In, where he worked, to finish his part of the English project and continue writing his memoir.

 

Oh, and to work too, of course. Totally…

 

Back to Betty and Veronica.

 

We tune into them just wrapping up their cheer routine. It was done pretty perfectly, and Veronica was feeling pretty damn proud of it. Her smile turned from fake to genuine with the last bit of their cheer. “We're Blue. And Gold. We're Dy.Namite. We'll take. You down. And Fight! The Fight!” They finished as peppy as they could manage. Veronica took a small step forward with one hand on her hip, and the other shaking her pompom at the ceiling. “Wooo!!! Go Bulldogs!!!!!” She yelled happily. She was having fun.

 

Betty wasn't.

 

Betty cheered at the end and shook both of her pompoms above her head with the best smile she could manage, feeling completely discouraged. She had been watching Cheryl's face the entire time they cheered, and she showed no signs of actually enjoying their performance. A pit of despair formed in her stomach and felt like it was going to consume her whole. But she kept smiling.

 

She's good at that at least.

 

Just keep smiling.

 

Cheryl sighed dramatically and stared at them with a look of unamused boredom. “Ladies. Where's the heat? Where's the sizzle?” She asked in some sort of bitchy monotone. Veronica then noticed that their stellar performance wasn't enough to get them in. They needed a shock factor. And they needed one quickly.

 

Veronica glanced at Betty before smiling back at Cheryl. “That's… because you haven't seen our big finish yet!” She covered quickly before reaching for Betty's hand. Betty took it subconsciously, but then realized what she was doing and got confused as to why they were not holding hands and Veronica was pulling her close-wait what's happening?

 

“Don't freak. Just trust me.” Veronica whispered to her as she leaned in close.

 

And suddenly they were kissing.

 

In the middle of the gym.

 

Betty was pretty sure she could hear a pin drop if she listened for it.

 

Or if she wasn't so distracted by how soft Veronica's lips were _holy shit they're so nice._

 

She could feel Veronica grinning against her lips

 

She couldn't feel anything else but Veronica's lips at the moment. And her hands, which lasing themselves together behind her neck.

 

And, honestly? She was pretty okay with it.

 

Even though Betty was too stunned to kiss back, or close her eyes or anything.

Veronica realized that she might have just broken Betty, again, and broke the kiss after a few seconds with nothing but a triumphant smile on her pretty lips. Betty's face broke out into a shade that could only be described at “Bob the Tomato.” They stared continued to stare at each other.

 

Until-

 

“Check your sell by date, Ladies, Faux Lesbian Kissing hasn't been taboo since 1994.” Cheryl called to them in that Bitchy tone again. Veronica looked offended and angry. She mouthed “Faux?” to Betty before the two of them turned to face Cheryl. Veronica crossed her hands over her chest.

“Let's hope you two do better at the interview part.” Cheryl said with a sigh. She looked at Veronica and raised her eyebrows a bit “Veronica, how are you liking Riverdale so far?” She asked in a “I don't really care” tone. Veronica’s frown deepened a bit. “Um.. it's okay I guess?” She answered. Cheryl snapped her head towards Betty. “Betty, how's your sister doing?” Cheryl asked, but more like snapped, at her.

 

And if Betty hadn't already been caught off guard.

 

“umm…” was all she could manage before Cheryl interrupted with another question for Veronica. “Veronica. Has Betty told you about her sister yet?” Her eyes shooting daggers at the both of them. Now Veronica was caught off guard. “Uh, a little I guess.” She answered, just as confused as before.

“Go ahead, Betty. Tell Veronica about your sister and my dear brother.” Cheryl commanded, her face turning stoneishly bitchy. Betty frowned a bit and glanced between Veronica and Cheryl. “... Polly and Jason had dated a bit-” she explained to Veronica before Cheryl, again, interrupted with a scoff. “Oh, I wouldn't exactly call it _dating_.” She spit out venomously. Betty's hands started to curl into fists. “It didn't really end well…” she added quietly.

“In fact, Jason's probably the reason why your sister had a nervous break down and now lives in a group home, right? Betty?” She added for her. Saying it out loud obviously upset Betty in almost every way. But she kept it to herself, and just dug her fingernails into her palms. “That's what my parents say.” Betty said calmly. Veronica started to worry about her. She wanted to throw her pompoms at Cheryl and hug Betty until she had calmed down. Get her a milkshake and some soft blankets or something. Protect her from this she-witch.

 

Honestly, if Jason was as bad as Cheryl is, she could totally see why Polly would break down.

 

Oh. Is that too mean?

 

Cheryl was determined, however, to get more of a reaction out of her. “So then, how do you feel about that, Betty? Go ahead, the floor is yours. Whatever you've been _dying_ to spew about Jason and how he treated Polly? Unleash it. Ruin me. Destroy me. Tear me a new one, Rip me to shreds, _annihilate_ me.” Cheryl commanded with each new phrase that popped out of her mouth. Each one edging Betty on to just scream about Jason and what he did and _everything._ It was right there, she wanted it so badly.

“I just..” Shs started to say, before she saw the look on everyone's face. Cheryl look bitchy and content as soon as Betty started to say anything, and her cronies looked pleased as well. And Veronica looked concerned. Worried.

 

Shit.

 

Betty took a deep breath, and quietly released it as she unclenched her hand.

 

“I… just wanted to say that I am truly sorry about what happened to Jason, Cheryl. I can't imagine what you and your family must be going through right now.” She said instead, feeling much better with that than any outburst. Looking only a little bit defeated, Cheryl looked down at her clipboard and mumbled “Right.” She looked at Veronica and smiled. “Veronica, welcome to the River Vixens! Betty,” her smile disappeared into her stone cold face again, “Better luck next year.” She said pointedly. Betty looked disheartened, but already kind of knew this was coming. She hung her head and was about to walk off the court when Veronica grabbed her hand and made her stop.

Veronica’s eyes bore into Cheryl's. “Um. What? _Excuse_ me? I get on, but Betty doesn't just because you couldn't bully her into being a bitch?” Veronica snarled at her with such disdain that Cheryl was caught a bit off guard. “I need girls with _fire_ on my squad, not pushovers.” She justified loosely. Betty squeezed Veronica's hand gently to get her attention. “Hey, it's okay. I'll just go, it's fine.” She whispered to her. She didn't want to make a scene.

Veronica looked like she was about to rip Cheryl's eyes out. But then, suddenly, her face took on a look of pure serenity. She turned to Cheryl, and made direct eye contact.

“I know what you need, Cheryl. Because I know what you are. You'd rather have people fear you than like you, so you traffic in terror and intimidation. And you're rich,” she gestured to all over Cheryl, “So you've never been held accountable. But I am _living proof that certainty? That privilege that you wear on your head like a crown?? It won't_ fucking _last._ ” Veronica's voice took on an ice edge to it, the tone itself able to drop the temperature around them by at least 3 degrees. Everyone shivered. Veronica continued.

“Eventually there _will be_ a reckoning… or… maybe… that Reckoning is _now._ ” Veronica dropped Betty's hand and stalked towards Cheryl. Who was, surprisingly, standing her ground. “And _maybe? That reckoning?”_ She stood in front of Cheryl with her best power-stance as she glared down at her. “ _Is me.”_  She hissed at her before bending at the waist to get face to face with Cheryl, who was starting to crack a bit. “Betty and I come as a matching set. You want one of us? You get both. You want _fire_ ? Sorry 'Cheryl-Bombshell', my specialty is _ice_.” She finished with a solid kill-blow of a one liner. Cheryl knew she was, currently, defeated, and gave into her demands. Veronica straightened with an icy smile. “Lovely.” She said before turning back to Betty with a huge happy smile. Betty couldn't help but feel a little scared and a little turned on by Veronica at the moment, but she smiled back all the same, touched that she had stood up for her.

They end up in the locker rooms, trying on their new uniforms in victory. Veronica zips Betty's back up for her and brushes her shoulders for her. They beam at each other for a second, giggling happily, before Betty pipes up with a “Hey, Veronica.... you know you didn't have to do that in there, right? Cheryl's not exactly one you want to have on your bad side.” Betty suddenly felt a little bit shy, and ashamed that she hadn't stood up for herself. Veronica cocked an eyebrow and looked confused. “Yeah, I figured, but it doesn’t mean that it was fair of her to treat you like that, no matter what kind of shit went down between your siblings.” She said simply. Betty sighed a bit, then hooked arms with Veronica, “Yeah… about them. I should probably tell you about that.”

They walked out of the locker room with their stuff, Vixen outfits dawned, and arms hooked, as Betty recounted all the details about Polly's relationship with Jason. They unconsciously made their way towards the field ~~to find Archie~~ as Betty's story unfolded.

“When they first started dating, Polly was _so_ happy. But everything started to turn all toxic and… unhealthy both in the relationship and outside of it. My mom started going crazy. They got into fights a lot, her and Polly, saying awful things about the other. Mom even said that it was like Polly wasn't even her daughter..” Betty explained in a meek, sad voice. “Then Jason broke up with Polly, like she meant nothing. Like she was nothing. And it almost destroyed her. Jason may have hurt Polly… but my mom was really the one that broke her.” She recounted what her parents told her the day they had to put her into the home, and how she wasn't allowed to see her in fear of disturbing her.

Veronica's heart started to ache _._ “Oh _Betty_ , that's terrible. I'm so, so sorry…” was all she could think of to say. She leaned closer to Betty as they walked, allowing Betty to lean into her a bit more too, for support. Betty didn't really know where to continue from there, kind of scared that her voice would start cracking and she'd start crying or something.

Because she _missed_ Polly. More than anything in the world. She missed her so much it hurt, deep within her heart. Being home after New York, remembering that Polly wasn't there and passing by her room all the time just made her hurt more. She wanted to see her, make sure she's okay or something, _anything._

 

But she couldn't. Not yet. Not according to her parents.

 

Veronica could tell that she was struggling to continue on, so she decided to step in. “You know, when we lost everything? It was like my entire world had come crashing down around me. Watching everything disappear from my life within a blink of an eye, it was rough.” She said. “We started to get emails and stuff from these trolls, calling my Dad a thief, my mom a clueless socialite, and me the rich, privileged ice princess. What hurt the most, though? Was that they were right.” Veronica sighed gently, “That's why when my mom said we were moving here, I was ecstatic. I promised myself I would start new, and not be what they thought I was. What Cheryl currently is.” She said with some confidence in her voice. Betty looked at her with a soft smile, “That's really brave of you, Veronica.” She praised gently. Veronica smiled.

Then she heard some people yelling about, and realized they were standing outside the football field, and the football players were jogging in for their showers. She spotted a certain red head making his way with the crowd. Veronica's eyes started to sparkle as an idea fizzed into her head. “Hey, Archie!” She called out to him, managing to get his attention. He started jogging over to them. Veronica could feel Betty tense. “What are you doing??” She whispered hastily to her. “Slaying your dragons one at a time, Betty dearest. You're going to ask him to the dance. Right now.” She whispered back as she tried to look casual.

Archie could tell that they had been whispering about something, but the subject could have been anything so he decided to not ask. “Hey guys, nice outfits. Congratulations on making the team.” He said happily, but feeling a little bit out of breath. He bad worked a little too hard at practice today, thoroughly avoiding his coach and _Chuck_ the entire time.

The girls thanked him happily. “You don't look too bad yourself, teen outlander.” Veronica charmed him casually. He laughed a bit and rubbed the back of his neck, trying not to blush at the compliment. Gingers always blush too easily. “Well anyways, Archie, Betty here has something she wanted to ask you regarding the back to school formal.” Veronica gently pushed Betty towards him in a not-so-subtle manor. Betty struggled to find the words in the way she wanted them, especially with Archie's warm brown eyes on her. “Oh… um..  I was j-just wondering… if you would ah.. like to go… with the two of us!” She said suddenly, pulling Veronica toward them.

 

Veronica's face blanked. “What?” She asked, even more confused this time around.

 

Apparently, it's been a confusing day for her.

 

“Yeah! I mean, Veronica, you're still new here and you've gotta have a date for the dance. So we should all just go together! As friends!” Betty explained cheerfully, looking between both her and Archie. Archie looked just as confused as Veronica did.

 

“Did”, being the key term here. As Veronica was immediately okay with the idea. (Friends her Pearls.)

 

It's all she's really wanted, anyways.

 

“Alright, I'm down. What do you say?” Veronica asked Archie with a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

Archie felt torn. He had planned on skipping the dance this year, so he could avoid all those people he didn't want to be around so he could work on his music. He sighed, “Actually, guys, I'm not really feeling up for the dance this year. I'm sorry.” He said truthfully, hoping to end it there. Betty looked deeply saddened, but hid it pretty well.

Not well enough from the both of them, but she went along anyways. “Oh.. that's okay.” She said gently. Her tone enough made Archie want to reconsider, but he was grateful that she understood. 

 

Veronica, however, was having none of this.

 

“Uh, Totally Unacceptable, Archiekins!!” She exclaimed in kinda fake anger. Veronica now wanted to go to this dance with both of them, it'd be a good chance for her to start bringing the two together to see how well they vibed together, and she wasn't about to let it go. “We _need_ and escort! Take a goddamn Break from your tortured life of being a musician-slash-football star and come dance and relax with two, newly minted River Vixens.” Veronica reasoned/totally burned. Archie couldn't help but smile a bit, knowing she was totally right. A dance could really help him forget everything and help him just… chill for a bit.

 

If anyone needed to chill for like, one second, it was probably Archie.

 

“Alright alright, I'll go with you two.” He said, sounding defeated. “Fantastic! It's set then. We'll text you the time and place.” Veronica said happily. She hooked onto Betty's arm again and looked up at her. “We need to go dress shopping. I need a new Stunner, since they took away all of my designer dresses in New York. That way we can make sure all of our outfits don't clash.” She said half serious, half wanting to spend more time with Betty. Then she looked at Archie. “I'll text you later once we made our decision to make sure you have a tie that'll work.” This time she was all serious. Archie raised his eyebrows a bit and nodded. “Sure, no problem. If you'll excuse me, ladies, I need to go shower.” He said with a shy-ish smile as he rubbed the back of his head. They said their goodbyes, and Archie ran off to join the rest of the team in the locker rooms.

The girls started walking again, arms once again bringing each other close. Veronica looked up at Betty,“Are you down for dress shopping?” she asked. Betty smiled and nodded. “Sure, I just need to stop home and change first. We could meet at the strip mall?” they planned to meet in about two hours, because Veronica wanted to shower and get her homework done before they went as well. They parted in front of the school, Veronica getting into her car and blowing a kiss to Betty before she was driven away. Totally blushing,  Betty walks home with a small skip in her step.

Cheerleading and getting two, count 'em, TWO dates to the back to school dance.

 

What a fucking _whirlwind_ of a day.

  
Can't wait to see how her Mom fucks it all up.


	6. Our Last Summer, Memories That Remain

Sure enough.

Betty had gotten home and noticed that her mother was not yet home from work.  

Which meant that she could blast her music in her room and celebrate her happiness with some Jams.

Which is exactly what she did for, like, thirty minutes.

Then she remembered some homework and started to do that instead.

Once she was done, however, she immediately resumed.

She danced around her whole room, lipsyncing to whatever song was playing as she checked herself out in her mirror. She liked the way the outfit offered a bit of volume to her ass. It made her feel more confident. More at ease with herself. Plus the colors weren't all that bad, either.

Could have been way worse.

 

“What, is _that?”_

 

Betty jumped a bit and whirled around to see her mother standing in her doorway, not looking pleased at all.

“It's… uh… A cheerleading outfit. I made the team!” Betty announced happily. Her mother was quiet for a second, and Betty wondered if she should have said “Taadaa” or something. Then her mother's eyes bore into her. “Cheryl _Blossom's_  cheerleading squad? After what Jason did to Polly?” She asked bitterly. Betty remained silent. Alice Cooper’s facial features distorted in disgust. “No. I'm sorry, but I won't allow it. Take it off right now.” She ordered in a way that only a over protective mother could.

 

“No.”

 

_Woah wait._

 

Betty was _standing her ground._ She even looked defiant.

 

“Excuse me?” Alice quoted from _Holes_. Not really but in that same kind of bitchy way Warden Walker did in Holes.

Betty raises her chin up a bit to add to her look of defiance. “I said No, mom. Everything I do, I do it for other people. I do everything for everyone, and I never get to do anything for myself. Everything, to be perfect! The perfect  daughter, the perfect student… I'm doing this for myself. Cheerleading. It'll also look great on my college applications.” Betty said sternly, adding the college part to somewhat prove that there would be more to it than just her wanting to cheer.

But it was mostly her wanting to cheer.

“Can’t I do this _one thing_ for me?” Betty asked in a hurt, soft voice. Alice was taken aback for a second, unable to gather a good answer. Betty, unhappy with that response, grabbed her purse off of her bed and stormed past her mother. “Wait! Where are you going?” Alice asked in a fleetingly strong, motherly tone. Betty whirled around and stared her directly in the eye. “Dress shopping. Because Guess What Mom?? I'm going to the dance! With Archie… and Veronica.” Betty said, angry but confidence. Alice was taken aback again, “Wait, Hermione Lodge’s daughter?” She asked, stunned. “YES!! And you know what? She's actually really nice. She's sweet and encouraging, and trying to be a good person despite it all!” Betty cried.

Alice was fuming, she gave her daughter a pointed glare. “What, do you think she's going to be your _friend?”_ She said in the strict and emotionally abusing motherly tone, which only made Betty angrier. “Girls like Veronica Lodge and Cheryl? Betty? They don't like girls like us-” “Mom, I _don't want to hear it._ ” Betty interrupted. “It’s happening. And I'm going. And I’m going to have _fun.”_ With a small humph, she turned away and walked out of her house, heading for the strip mall.

She would later have to explain that she did not, in fact, change out of her uniform because her mother was being a bitch.

But Way To stand up to you mother, Betty, now it's Archie's turn.

 

Kinda.

 

We look in on our local hero on his back porch, strumming away at his shiney acoustic guitar. He's so engrossed in his music that he doesn't notice the door open a few feet away from him, and doesn't see his dad walk out and lean on the house. He almost didn't even hear him clear his throat.

Honestly? You'd think a football player would have better senses than that.

Archie jerked his head up in surprise, then relaxed a bit and put down his guitar while his dad said “So, I just got off the phone with your coach…”. This caused Archie to nearly drop his guitar on the ground. He didn't dare meet his dad's eye.

“He's under the impression that you can't join varsity because I'm making you work for me, and I thought that you couldn't work because of football, so I guess my first question is… who are you lying to?” Fred Andrews said as he crossed his arms.

Archie wasn't quite sure what to do at this point. So he tried lying. “Neither of you!” He said in an awfully faked happy tone. He looked into his dad's eyes hopefully. But he only got a look that said “Did you really just say _neither”_ and the disappointed Dad face.

“Both…” he admits with a sigh. His dad rolls his eyes a bit, giving off a total “This Bitch” vibe he slowly walks over to lean on a post closer to Archie. Archie needed to explain why, and the only way he could do that is to out himself to his dad.

 

Oh boy _oh boy_ Archie felt his stomach fill with dread and anxiety. His hands became sweaty and his breathing a bit shaky. He had to do this. He had to _do this he had to do this he had to do this._

 

_Okay._

 

“Dad…” Archie said gently, earning his dad's curious gaze. “I…” he started, every feeling suddenly growing more prominent and almost overwhelming.

_He had to do this. Right now. Now or never._

 

“Dad…” he tried again.

 

“I want to study music.”

 

…

 

_Silence._

 

If Fred Andrews wasn't already confused before, he was WAY more confused now.

“But… Football brings you to college? Which brings you to business school which-” Fred went through the list of plans that he Archie had for himself again before Archie interrupted him. “Which brings me right back here, dad. To work for you!” He said, kinda feeling misunderstood. Fred took another step closer. “Not 'For me’, Arch, With me! Archie, the company would be yours.” Fred said with a lot of emotion, for some reason.

Archie, feeling like a total asshole, then said “No disrespect, dad… but I don't want it.”

 

As if that wasn't totally disrespectful. Or plain old _rude_.

 

Total punch to the gut for good ol’ Freddie Andrews.

 

“Three months ago, you did.” Fred said, a bit hurt. “What happened?”

Archie thought back on the past three months of his life and felt nothing but regret, anger, and sadness. He remembered that the only time he felt okay, _decent,_ was when he was writing those songs. It made him feel _normal_ . Sane. _Safe._

“I'm different now. Everything is different now.” Was all Archie could think of to say without telling him about his entire summer. The part of it that he didn't see.

But Fred could tell that Archie was hiding something from him. He wasn't getting the full truth and, frankly, he seemed scared and traumatized.

What happened to his son?

_And since when does he not tell him about it?_

“So that's it, huh? We don't talk anymore?” Fred said, unable to keep the hurt from his voice. Did _he_ do something wrong? Was _he_ a bad father? Did it put too much on him? Archie wasn't even looking at him now.

Archie felt a little too emotional. Kinda like he was going to cry. Which would be _stupid_ because they're just talking about music.

 

...right?

 

“Dad…” Archie said softly as his dad turned to walk back inside. Fred, also full of emotion and feeling like he wanted to cry, turned on his heal to look back at Archie. “I would _never_ force you to play football! I don't _care_ if you play football.” He confessed with a bit of anger in his tone. “And you don't have to work with me _or_ for me ever again. But some advice, man-to-man.” He paused a bit to try and think of a way to form how he felt into proper English. “These decisions that you're making right now, son? They have consequences. They’ll go on to form who you are and who you'll become.” He tried, but then thought that was way too hard and not at all what he wanted to say.

It wasn't even true. Archie's a _sophomore._

But he just said it so he can't go back on it now so maybe the next thing to come out of his mouth will work better.

“Whatever you decide to do, what ever choice you make from now on; be confident enough in it and yourself to not have to lie about it.”

Nice. Much better.

Fred turned away from him again and walked inside the house. Leaving Archie to think on what he had just said while he went to his study to have a bit of alone time.

Just to cry a bit.

He needed it.

Archie was crying a bit, too. While he strummed his guitar gently.

That was a _lot_ for Archie.

He didn't mean to upset him so much. And to say that he doesn't _want_ what his dad's dedicated his entire life to was selfish and brat like, to say the least. Gods, He just wants his _music. That's it._

Imagine how he'll react when he tries to come out for _real._

….

????huh????

We'll talk about it later, right now we gotta go meet the new member of the Gang.

 

Jughead Jones is currently typing away at his laptop in the filmhouse as he waits for 7:00pm to roll around.

He calls it the filmhouse because it's where the projector is for the drive in theater is. It's kinda like a second home for him.

Some of his happiest childhood memories were in this little hut-cabin-thing. And now he was in control of it. It was very dear to him.

Therefore, filmhouse.

 

Anyways.

 

He was currently typing out some details of his memoir when he suddenly started thinking about Jason's disappearance. It was, to say the least, a bit confusing.

How could the captain of the water polo team supposedly  _drown_ in a river? He was a _very_ good swimmer, even in the moving river, so how could he drown?

I mean, if they were trying to come up with an excuse, couldn't they have used a better one than drowning?

...wait Excuses?

Also, how has Jughead been subjected to Jason's river swimming?

 

Well, that happened one fine evening in June. Probably about June… 15th probably?

Jughead, at that moment, was angry at _everything_.

He had just been to his home, only to find his Dad drunk off his ass _again_ after he had told him YESTERDAY that he was going clean. Unbelievable! He didn't even make it a full 24 hours.

He was so sincere about it, too. He had gotten all weepy eyed and promised to “fix their family” and Jughead actually _believed_ him.

Gods, he was so _fucking stupid._

 

Jughead wanted to go to Archie, but he was at a party with his football team right now and Jug _hated_  parties. And people. Plus he was _allowed_ to have other friends than him and Betty -I Guess-. So here he was, angrily stomping through the forest, trying to clear his head from it all. They always say that tranquility can be found in Mother Nature.

But all Jug was getting was eaten alive by mosquitoes.

He must have been way farther into the woods than he thought, because he found himself at the edge of Sweetwater River. The river flowing lazily in the late twilight light, making very soothing noises. Jughead approached the the edge and peered into it's reflective surface to find himself looking back at him.

Man, he looked angry. And tired, but that's no surprise.

Jughead frowned at himself as he bent down to sit at the edge. “Now what?” He asked softly to nothing in particular as he reached a hand towards the water’s alluring waters.

The tips of his fingers just barely grazed the surface of the river. It was cold, but in a refreshing way rather than a shock inducing sort of way. Rejuvenating, in a way.

Jughead felt himself smile a bit as twirled his fingers in the water, letting it flow past his fingers as he drew shapes and squiggles.

Feeling slightly better, Jughead stood up, flicked his hand to get the water off, and brushed the rest of himself off. He then set off on a walk down the River.

Maybe there was something to this nature thing after all.

He had gotten about a quarter of a mile away from his starting point when he saw signs of life just a few yards ahead of him. He debated turning around when he heard an angry roar of probably anger followed by a loud splash.

Judging from the look of the river now, there was only a rough ridge that dropped off into the deep waters of the river. No beach, no shallow part.

Frightened that something violent had happened, Jughead went to investigate.

He approached carefully, in case they had a weapon. He tried to look for a stick to defend himself with but he couldn't. So he grabbed his phone and was ready to call 911 if necessary.

Upon a closer look, Jughead notice there were some clothes on a log near the shore, and the person was furiously swimming against the current with some pretty professional looking strokes. Streaks of flashy red hair bobbed to the surface every now and again. Jughead almost thought it was Archie, but that hair was more on the orange-er side of ginger, and Archie's was more on the browner side.

Being as there was only one other guy with red hair in this town, Jughead deduced it to be Jason Blossom. A Pissed Off™ Jason Blossom.

Apparently, people do swim where there's no shore. Who knew.

Still very confused and wanting answers, the natural journalist instinct part of Jughead decided to go ask him. Carefully, as to not scare him. Or get punched.

As Jason professionally splashed around in the water, Jughead took a few careful steps towards him, almost feeling like he would fall in or something. He ended up crouching about a foot or two away from the edge of the river, kind of just waiting for Jason to notice him.

He stayed there for another three minutes before Jason stopped for air. It was kind of awkward. And Jug almost fell backwards when Jason's hand just suddenly latched onto the side of the river to stop him from being carried away with the current. Jughead pushed himself back into his original crouching position before Jason's head surfaced from river. He still seemed angry, but more subdued for the time being. Looking up and seeing Jughead, however, startled him enough to loose his grip on the river’s edge. “Careful there, you might get carried away. But, I guess with the way you swim that's a very unlikely scenario.” Jughead commented causally.

Jason squinted at him, as if he was imagining things. “...Jughead? Jughead _Jones_?” He asked, kind of totally confused. Jughead gave him a half cocked smirk. “The third and only. What are you doing swimming in Sweetwater, Jason Blossom?” He countered right back at him. Oddly charmed, Jason gave him a confused smile and pull himself out of the river. “I could ask you the same question, ‘cause you don't look like you're going swimming.” Jason said as he walked over to his pile of clothing to find his towel. Jughead's eyes followed him warily and shrugged. “Oh, you know, nature is full calming vibes and whatever the fuck. I'm supposed to be some sort of depressed emo kid, it's totally understandable why I'm walking alone in the woods.” Jug answered casually. “But you, good sir, are a nerotypical Jock. You’re the odd one out here.” Jughead's eyes rested on the glossy sheen of the river's surface again, watching the current drift on effortlessly as he stopped crouching and crossed his legs on the ground.

Jason dried off his hair and torso with his towel. He ran a hand through his red hair with some sort of sigh-chuckle crossbreed. “You've got me there.” He said, sitting himself down next to Jughead and dangling his feet in the water. “But I don't think I would call myself nerotypical. I think we've all got our shit.” This time Jason sighed for real. “I sure as hell do. And judging by your aura you're not as calm as you're letting on.” He pointed out with a smirk. Jughead scoffed, “Hey, _I'm_ supposed to be the question asker here. And you still haven't answered my first question.” He look at Jason out of the corner of his eye, “Why are you swimming alone in the woods?” 

 

Jason's gaze fixated on a spot across from them. Some weird shaped rock that kinda reminded him of the general shape of a skull. “I'm… angry.” He stated. Jughead rolled his eyes. “My family is crazy. I had to break up with my girlfriend because my parents are still pissed over some sort of family feud from god knows when, and she got really emotional and was crying and all I wanted to do was make it okay again but I _couldn't_ …” Jason voice started to raise in frustration, and Jughead's eyebrows raised in surprise. “I was a fucking asshole and didn't even look at her the entire time. Then she punched me in the chest and bolted, which hurt like a bitch both physically and emotionally. Then I got home and my parents told me it was best for 'personal appearances’ and 'the company depends on it’. Like what fucking bullshit, right?” Jason looked at Jughead for confirmation on the bullshit, to which Jughead nodded compliantly. “Anyways, I got so fucking pissed off that I told them I didn't want the company. Which is true.” Jason's eyes squeezed shut and he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I'd rather fucking die than take over that god forsaken business. Besides, Cheryl wants it anyways. She said it would make her feel needed for once. Which is sad on it's own, and also to be blamed on our fucking parents. They're just so… Cold and mean and apathetic! It drives me insane!!” Jason kicked a leg out in the water, causing it to splash some more. Jughead found himself nodding along, too, listening to every word and detail as if it would come in handy later.

Jason sighed again, dropping his hand from his face. His anger dissolved into sadness. “Sorry, man, I shouldn't be dumping all this emotional crap on you. It's not your problem.” He said in a much quieter voice. Jughead shrugged “Hey, I'm the one who asked. Don't worry about it. And you have every right to be mad. If my family was forcing me to do things I didn't want to do, I'd get pissed too. You're totally in the right.” Jughead reassured nonchalantly. Jason closed his eyes for a moment. “The worst of it is that I can call them out on it as much as I want, but it won't change anything. They say they'll change but they never do.” Jason sounded defeated, and a bit heart broken.

His words made Jughead's heart both skip a beat and ache at the same time.

Because he knew all too well what that was like.

Jughead frowned at the river again, unable to identify what that response was. Jason turned his head towards him curiously. “Now it's your turn. Why are you out here so late at night? For real this time.” He asked seriously. Jughead sighed, and shook his head gently. “Parent troubles too, I guess. I caught my old man drinking again, the day after he told me he was quitting.” He chuckled humorlessly. “And you're right, you know… it hurts like hell. He's been so fucked up for so long, and it tore our family apart. I thought… I _hoped_ that if he quit and got his shit together, things would get better. Maybe they'd come back.” Jughead felt emotional now, too. He was sharing some personal shit that he preferred to keep locked up and pushed deep down inside of himself forever until it killed him.

And yet, here he was. Spilling it all to Jason McFucking Blossom of all people.

“Who's they, Jughead?” Jughead heard Jason ask softly. He stole a glance at him and noticed a look of what could either be empathy or pity, and either way it made Jughead's gut twist in a weird way that he kind of didn't like but also kinda did.

 

Either way he needed it to stop.

 

“Look, man, I don't need your pity.” He snapped bitterly. Jason looked a bit offended. “I'm not pitying you, Jughead. I just want to listen.” He said in, yep, an offended tone.

Why he wanted to listen was beyond Jason. According to highschool standards he should be taking advantage of Jughead's oddly kind nature and making him pity him. But he found himself wanting to comfort him instead.

Which was weird, to say the least. The only other people who made him want to do that was Polly and Cheryl.

Hmmm.  

Moving on.

 

“Fine.” Jughead clipped. Then he deflated a bit and sighed, “Sorry…  I didn't mean to snap. I just don't normally share these kinds of things with other people unless we're like… close.” He apologized loosely. Jason shrugged with a light chuckle “Hey man, I'm right there with you. But this seems… safe. Y’know? Like it's a total no man's land for two people who don't really know of each other to just spill their guts to one another.” Jason smiled a bit. “And, I mean, we have kind of known of each other for like, our entire lives. We've had some classes together this year and shit. It's not like we're _total_ strangers.” He justified as he started to kick his legs back and forth in the water.

Jughead found himself smiling too, despite himself. “I did help you get an A on that partner test.” He recalled fondly. Jason flat out laughed at that, “Shit man, geography is like my _worst_ subject. I don't know _shit_ about the earth.” He said, suddenly feeling a bit better despite putting himself down. Jughead nodded again, laughing along just a tad. “You thought that Canada was Minnesota.” Jughead recalled again, remembering how he tried not to burst out laughing in class when he looked at Jason's map of North America. “In my defense, they do call it the Great White North. Which if anything should be that great and north it should be Canada.” He said, raising a finger to the sky. Jughead started laughing for real this time, “No dude, that's also Canada. Minnesota is the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes.” He corrected.

“Shit. Really?”

“Uh, Yeah.”

“ _Fuck_.” Jason said in fake disappointment, a bright smile on his face. “No wonder I almost failed that class.” Now Jughead was full out laugh, right from the stomach. Jason gave him a playful shove as he started laughing too, joyfully and heartily. They laughed for some three minutes before calming themselves down.

“I needed that,” said Jason, leaning back on his hands. “Life as been so shitty lately, I was beginning to think I wouldn't laugh like that again.” He said gently, that smile still gracing that pretty face of his as he let his head hang back. Jughead felt his cheeks flush a bit pink at the thought, but he believed that he could pass that off as the heat or from laughing or something. So no big deal.

 

….It was _kind_ of a big deal.

 

“Have you ever been?” Jason asked, still looking up at the stars, “To Canada, that is. Or Minnesota, either, I guess.”

They talked for longer than anyone would have expected. Sometimes about serious things, sometimes nothing in particular. For some reason, it was really easy for them to talk to one another. Maybe because despite their upbringings, while drastically different, they both ended the same kind of fucked up head space. They could relate to each other.

Or they were just dying to get these thoughts and feelings out in the open, so anyone who came along would do. Interpret at your own will.

To Jughead's surprise, Jason was actually a really nice guy. He had a lot of stories and experiences for a Jock. He was funny, witty, and full of life and energy. It was kind of inspiring. There were lots of stories with Cheryl, and a good amount with Polly. Polly Cooper, Jughead should have guessed that one. From what he remembered of the school year, he had seen them together a lot. Trying to be secretive about it, but fooling no one.

Plus the Blossom and Cooper rivalry was legendary in Riverdale.

Those Cooper girls… man oh man.

The best stories he told were about just him, though. He'd get caught up in something and somehow get himself out of it with a life lesson. Like he was some tv show character.

 

There was a lull in their conversation. It was a comfortable silence, which came as a surprise to both of them. Jason's face grew serious, and he pressed his shoulder against Jughead's. Which made them both realize how close they were to the other. It was… strange, but not a bad strange. Neither of them made a move to distance themselves from the other.

“Hey Jug, what are you afraid of?” Jason asks after awhile. Jughead furrowed his brows a bit. “I think my biggest fear is being forgotten.” he answered solemnly. “By who?” Jason pushed, looking at Jughead now. Jughead looked back at him, making some direct eye contact that is _really_ against Jughead's style. _All_ of this was against both their styles, and yet, here we are.

“Everything. My friends, my family…. history.” He said softly. “Them?” Jason asked again, referring back to whoever Jughead had mentioned earlier. Jughead bit his lip and nodded, breaking their gaze to focus on the river before he got too emotional. “'They’ is referring to my mom and Jellybean. When my dad… reached his worst, my mom packed her and Jellybean’s stuff and left.” Jug finally admitted. Jason felt his heart break a bit more, and not because his parents named him Jughead and his probably-sister Jellybean.

“They left without you…” Jason all but whispered. Jughead nodded again. “My mom said she didn't want to drag me away from my friends. But I tried to think of it as her needing a reason to come back eventually instead.” He sighed heavily, “Because I would have given up _everything_ to go with them… instead of _this_.” He finished emotionally, but not yet crying.

Jason felt tears prick at his eyes. That was… a lot for him to take in. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Jughead, especially as a kid. “I'm… so sorry, Jughead. That-” “That's terrible? Yeah, it really was. Does wonders to your self esteem. You start to wonder why she didn't take you with her, if you just weren't important enough to her, or if she secretly hated you, or..” Jughead went on a self deprecating rant on all the thoughts that had passed through his mind since they left, and each one was harder and harder for Jason to hear.

“Jughead…” Jason tried to interrupt through Jughead's wall of words. “Jughead…” Jason sighed softly in frustration. “Like you were nothing to her! Like trash or something.” Jughead smiled, but there was no warmth or anything to it. Pure ice and pain behind those pretty pink lips of his. Jason frowned and put a hand on Jughead's cheek and turned his head towards him, forcing eye contact. “Juggie! C’mon man, You're not nothing.” Jason said sincerely, his frustration melting instantly as he watched those blue eyes of his widen. “You're worth something, Jughead Jones. You're worth a lot of things. What she did was awful, but it doesn't mean you're not worth it. You _matter_ , and you could do anything!” Jason eyes filled with an excited energy that honestly left Jughead a bit breathless. His face started to flush again.

Jason dropped his hand from Jughead's face and started going on about all the stuff he believed Jughead was capable of. It was really surreal. No one has talked so highly of him in a long time. All he could do was stare at Jason as he rambled on. “...And you should totally write a book! Like a memoir or something. You said you liked to write so I can only assume you're like, super good at it. And it'd be a perfect way to not be forgotten, cause books are forever. Like the stories they tell are forever and will never quite be forgotten so you're memories would always live on, immortalized in a book, y’know? And you could write about everything in your life, your friends, your family, hell you could write about me if you wanted to-” “Could I?” Jughead interrupted. Jason paused for a second and stared to Jugheads big blue eyes. He smiled brightly, “Of course you could, Jughead. I mean, I know we've only really known each other for like, a couple of hours now, but I think you know almost as much about me as Cheryl does. Which is saying something, because I tell Cheryl pretty much everything.” He rambled again, this time feeling a but flustered. The idea of Jughead writing about him seemed a bit personal, but not in an uninviting way.

Jughead found himself leaning closer to Jason as he talked, and didn't really feel like stopping himself. “I would, you know. If you really think I could do it.” Jughead said gently. “You should really write about all of us in Riverdale, though. Get all of our stories out there. I know we're not the only ones out there who have a good life story to tell.” Jason remarked just as gently. Jughead chuckled a bit, “You're probably right.”

Suddenly the two found each other just a breath away from the other. Jughead could feel Jason's breath on his lips, and it sent a shiver down his spine. They made eye contact again. Something changed in Jason's soft brown eyes, like that fire was now a lit fuze on a firework or stick of dynamite. They seemed to sparkle in the most perfect way possible.

 

“Will you do it?” Jason whispered to him.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Promise?”

 

“... I promise.”

 

Then the distance closed.

It was almost unclear who leaned in first, but looking back on it it was most likely Jason. Jughead probably wouldn't have had it in him to make himself go for it.

They kissed gently for what seemed like an hour, but was only a blissful minute. Jason’s lips guilded Jug’s for one glorious minute. It was soft, sweet, and almost perfect.

But not completely perfect.

For they both knew, with this one kiss, that they were not supposed to be with each other. At least, not yet.

Actually? Not ever.

Jason still loved Polly, he knew for sure. He wanted to be with her forever. He'd probably marry her if he could.

 

But if anyone could have changed his mind on the matter, he decided it would Jughead.

 

But he knew he wouldn't.

 

Jughead knew it too. If he had asked, Jason would.

But that's not the way the story is supposed to go. That's not the right ending and, as a writer, Jughead knew he couldn't let that happen.

 

The kiss ended abruptly when they heard some dogs barking in the distance, and the light sounds of some familiar voice.

“It's the sheriff. Shit man We've got to Go.” Jughead whispered urgently. The two of them scrambled to get themselves up. Jughead tried to brush all the dirt off of his pants while Jason tried to pull his clothes on. They heard footsteps, the crunches of leaves and twigs on the ground getting closer. “Hurry!” Jughead whispered even more urgently, just as Jason pulled on his Letterman's jacket. Then he started running, grabbing Jughead's hand as he passed him.

The two of them bolted as fast as their legs could carry them. Jughead knew Jason could probably out run him without breaking a sweat, but Jason's legs were tried from all the swimming and stuff.

They ran until they reached the parking lot for the Sweetwater Trail. They slowed down as they approached Jason's car, both of them panting like marathon runners after a 5K. Once they reached Jason's car, they finally stopped. Jason leaned against the car while Jughead put his hands on his knees. After a minute of catching their breath, the two of them burst out laughing.

“Oh _man,_ that was close.” Jason huffed happily. Jughead only nodded. They both got this feeling in their chests as they looked at each other. As if they knew this was the end of their night together.

“Do you promise?” Jason repeated again, still leaning on his car. Jughead looked up at him, and straightened. “I promise.” Jughead said again, just as serious as before. And Jason smiled again, big and bright. “Good. Because you can do anything, Jughead.” Jason said. Jughead smiled a bit “You can too, Jason Blossom. Don't let them boss you around.” Jughead adjusted his hat a bit, then gave him a crooked grin “Now go get Polly back, you river beater you. Get a happy ending that I can write about.” He teased. Jason let out a hearty laughed and clapped a hand onto Jughead's shoulder. “Thanks man, I needed that.” He said joyfully. They looked at each other again, taking in each other's features before Jason pulled him in for a hug.

Now Jughead hated hugs. Always did. They made him uncomfortable and a bit claustrophobic. He only let Betty and Archie hug him, because Betty would throw a fit if he didn't let her, and Archie…

 

Archie. That's what was nagging at him during the kiss.

 

 _Oh boy._ Now _it all made sense._

 

Jason pulled away from the hug with both of his hands on Jughead's shoulders. “I won't forget this, Jughead Jones the Third.” Jason said seriously, but with a smile anyways. Jughead smiled back at him. “Neither will I, Jason Blossom.”

Jughead watched Jason pull away from the woods before walking home.

A bit more than two weeks later, Jughead got a string of texts from an unknown number.

They read as such:

* * *

 [Change name from 678-895-0025 to RiverBoy]

RiverBoy:

Hey Jughead, It's Jason. I got your number from Polly. I wanted to tell you that I haven't forgotten our night at Sweetwater, and I'm really starting to turn my life around because of it. Me and Polly are going to start again somewhere new, and we're going to get married. Which is a huge step, and we're super young, but it’s what we both want, so for once we're doing it.

Riverboy:

She's pregnant, Juggie. I'm gonna be a dad.

Riverboy:

I just hope I'm a better one than my dad..lmao

Riverboy:

I just wanted to thank you for that night, Jug. It really helped me get myself in order. I hope it was as inspiring for you as it was for me.

Riverboy:

So.. this is kinda goodbye. We're leaving in a few days. I'm sorry I won't see you in geography again.. lol. But I hope our paths cross again later in life.

Catcha later dude, I'm getting my storybook ending. Don't forget to write about me and Polly!!

I won't forget you.”

 

So, three days later, Jason was reported to have seemingly drowned in that very same river, and Polly was in a group home. Jughead knew better than to believe that.

He wouldn't say that this was the smartest move for them, but he knew it was the right one if this was what they wanted.

Well, probably.

That same night, Jughead opened his laptop and started a fresh new document.

  
He began to type.


	7. But I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's late I was on Vacation. But it's here now so... Celebration Yo. The Rest of the chapter will be in the ending notes because I can't get the rest of it in for some reason

Alrighty, time for the Dance!!!!!!

 

Ugh.

 

We meet up with the trio as they walk into the gymnasium together, both the girls on either sides of Archie. It was decked out with streamers and balloons and disco balls and…

Posters of Jason Blossom.

Huh.

“Well, it isn't the Mett Ball.” Veronica commented as she gave Archie's arm a light squeeze. Both of her dates let out an uncomfortable chuckle.

Betty, being her perfect in pink self was wearing a lightish pink A-line dress with some pretty silver earrings. Her hair was down, for once, and curled to perfection.

 

Gods, she basically _was_ perfection.

 

At least, in Veronica's eyes.

 

To break the tension, Betty leaned towards Archie a bit. “So when do you have to let Coach Clayton know about varsity?” She said over the loud beat of Mike Ponser.

Archie was dressed in your typical black suit with a dark green bowtie with little gold squares on it. The one the girls specifically picked out for him. “It'll make your eyes pop in the best way.” Veronica had said as Betty tied it around his neck.

Archie didn't know there were other ways your eyes could pop.

 

“This weekend.” Archie answered, not really feeling any better about their surroundings.

 

Veronica let out a long, loud, and annoyed sigh. She moved to be in front her dates.

“ _Guy,_ can’t we just _liberate_ ourselves from their tired dichotomy of Jock/Artist? Can we, in this post James Franco world, just be all things at once?” She exaggerated flawlessly. Betty giggled, and Archie just kept looking around him. “I'm working on it, Veronica.” He said, tried to mirror her dramatic tone.

Veronica rolled her eyes. “Work. Faster. I'm getting some punch.” She said as she twirls away from them in her strapless, dark floral patterned dress and signature pearls. Before she was lost in the crowd, she turned back to look mouth “You've got this!” At Betty.

This time Betty rolled her eyes, and Archie remained completely oblivious.

 

Because he had spotted one Geraldine Grundy over yonder, and he got an idea.

 

“Hey Betty, I gotta go for a second. But I promise, when I come back, I'll be a much better date, okay?” Archie excused himself as he made his way to Ms.Grundy. Betty huffed.

 

Great, now she was alone.

 

She stood there for five seconds before her arm was being grabbed.

“Bettybettybetty Oh my GOd.” Kevin said quickly, “You'll never believe who just approached me in the bathroom. I'll give you a hint, his name might be Moose but I describe a certain appendage of his as Horse Like.”

 

Oh. Well. Okay. _Huh._

 

Meanwhile, Archie is trying to get his way with Grundy in a nonsexual way.

Archie had tried to play it smooth as he poured himself a glass of punch, looking over at Grundy as she sat on the chairs next to the refreshments. She was trying, once again, to look hard to get and so not interested. But she was and it was weird.

 

“Don't panic, I'm not stalking you.” Archie teased in, again, a really weird way.

 

Ew.

 

“Archie… didn't we have an agreement?” Geraldine said with an insane amount of sass. Archie strutted up to her as he sipped his punch, his looked more serious and earnest now. “No, Geraldine, we have a secret. Multiple, actually. You know, maybe we could have helped Jason that morning, maybe we couldn't. And I won't tell anyone anything, but you _need_ to help me. The only thing that kept me going this summer was writing those songs.” He wasn't quite good at this demanding thing. He just kept pleading and begging.

 

Once again, Grundy looked not impressed.

 

“So here's my not so indecent opposition. I want to set up an independent study with you, as many mornings as you can spare and I _swear_ that's all it will be. No funny business.” Archie proposed. Grundy looked and felt defeated. She let out a loud sigh. “Alright. Monday, Wednesday, Friday. 7am every morning. Sharp.” She stood. “I'll set it up, and see about getting you credit.” And with another signature sharp turn, she strutted away.

 

And this time? Archie didn't watch her go.

 

Feeling triumphant, he stood to go find his dates.

 

The song that blaring through the gym suddenly stopped. Some teacher then came on and introduced Cheryl, who was the unofficial snow queen of the dance. Why that was necessary? No one knows.

Cheryl said some words about Jason, again, and introduced a band coming to play some songs. “To know them is to be obsessed with them.” Cheryl emphasized. Archie noticed it was Josie and her Pussycats.

_Or is it Josie and the Pussycats?... Fuck it there's a Josie in there and the Pussycats somewhere else I gotta find my friends._

Archie tuned out just as Cheryl was saying something about how the band was playing the song her and Jason were conceived to.

 

Um. _Ew._

 

It was something slow but not well known, and people were pairing off. He scanned the crowd for Veronica or Betty, and finally spotted them both slow dancing with Kevin. It was kinda hilarious, watching them try not to step on each other's feet while trying to decide who was leading and who was following. Archie's eyes glittered with happiness as he approached. “ARCHIE!!” Veronica yelled upon noticing him. “Come dance with us! Betty, you two should start.” Veronica and Kevin both dropped their hold on Betty and gently pushed her into Archie's arms.

 

Honestly, Betty could swoon.

 

Archie chuckled and put his arms around her waist. “I'll try not to step on your feet or something.” He joked as they started to sway. Betty fell into a fit of giggles as she wrapped her arms around Archie's neck and swayed with him.

They swayed for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's company. Betty remembered slow-dancing with him as a kid. At an elementary school dance thing. So long ago…

 

Well, he was definitely a better dancer now.

 

“So, did your plan work?” Betty asked after awhile. Archie's eyes sparkled even more with his accomplishment. “Yep! Ms.Grundy will help me with my music in the mornings, football in the afternoons, and I'll work with my dad on weekends. It's gonna be… crazy.”

“Well, don't overwork yourself, Archie. Otherwise you won't get anything done.” Betty said wisely. She sounded like a parent Archie chuckled again, “Will do, _mom._ ” He teased. Betty laughed again.

Veronica looked over at Betty and Archie as she swayed gayly with Kevin. Kevin glanced at them, then looked back at her. “So, with one is it? Archie or Betty?” He ask oh so causally. A dreamy look washed over Veronica’s face. “Mmm… Yeah…” she sighed happily. Kevin laughed, finding her answer appropriate but also out of character for her.

 

This daydreaming face was new, for instance.

 

“They're both _so cute Kevin._ ” Veronica enunciated. Kevin rolled his eyes. “Yeah I know. It's sickening. You're sickening.” She let out a bark of laughter. “You're not wrong.” They shared a laugh.

Kevin let out a long sigh. “You know, I spent most of my life in Riverdale thinking I was the only openly queer person in the world. Totally over dramatic for me but, you know, I was a dramatic gay white boy so what do you expect.” Veronica let out another bark of laughter. Kevin continued. “Like you had your closet cases everywhere but still not anything without… feeling. Then, within the first goddamn week of school, out of the Fucking Blue, you walk into my life with your fancy dresses and pearls and you've got all sorts of men and women at your feet I hardly know how to handle it.”

Veronica listened with a playful look of amusement. She didn't know whether to say thank you or to just laugh about it. “What I'm trying to say here, Blue Jasmine, is that I'm actually glad we've met. I'm glad I have a fellow experienced Gay to chat with. Gay, here, being the umbrella for whatever flavor of gay sticks with you.” He joked not so jokingly. Veronica gave him a friendly smile. “I'm happy we're friends too. And you know what? If you were into women I would totally ask you out.” Kevin spun her around with a happy chuckle. “Too bad I'm gay and more or less monogamous.” They shared another laugh as they twirled around each other.

Archie glanced over at Veronica and Kevin, watching them spin in circles like kids who didn't really know how to dance but were having fun anyways. It warmed Archie's heart.

Wondering what Archie was looking at, Betty followed his line of vision to Kevin and Veronica. “They look like they're having a good time.” She commented with a smile. Archie returned that smile with one of pure affection. It made Betty's heart melt on the spot. “Are you having a good time, Betty?” “Hard not to with you, Archibald.” Betty answered with a laugh. Archie rolled his eyes.

Veronica and Kevin looked over at the two, how they smiled at each other with a long-standing aura of affection and love.

 

What a perfect moment for those feelings to get out in the open, hm?

 

The two gays managed to catch the eye of the other gay dancing with the not-straight, and gave the gay a bunch of not-subtle hints to “Go for It!!! Now Is Your Moment!!! Motherfucking Do IT!” To which the gay gave them a look before turning back to the not-straight like nothing just happened.

 

Thankfully, our Not-Straight boy here is the literal worst at catching onto signals.

 

All went unnoticed.

 

“So.. Archie… I was just thinking.” Betty started awkwardly, “You know, since I'm a vixen now, and you're on varsity.. I just got it into my head that we could be this… I don't know… Power couple?” She finished just as awkwardly. Archie's smile melted into a blank face with a small undertone of panic. Seeing this, Betty quickly added on “Or at least a couple?” But the undertone of panic only grew.

And honestly? Betty was a little bit offended. Was it so _hard_ for him to think of being in a relationship with her? Did it scare him _that much_ just at the thought of taking things to another level? Hasn't she been an amazing friend for their entire lives? She didn't even get mad at him for forgetting her birthday last year. She's been nothing but supportive and understanding and considerate and being Totally Flirty towards him his entire life and he _never caught on or even thought about how she might feel or if it was even a possibility to date each other like for Fucks Sake._

 

“Betty…”

 

“Is it really so hard to imagine? Archie?” Betty snapped at him just as the song came to an end. She gently pushed herself away from Archie, totally looking a bit pissed and sad.

 

Archie's panicing only increased.

 

_Shit._

 

He felt like a pure, Grade A+ Asshole.

 

But also angry and totally freaked.

 

Why?

 

Because Archie did have feelings for Betty, but he didn't know what they were just yet. And she wanted answers, which is understandable but also not available at this time being ~~c~~ ~~ould she call back later?~~

 

Also there's that whole deal with Veronica, more confused feelings.

 

And Geraldine. Kinda. Not really but eh…

 

Plus his whole sexuality dealio.

 

Him being not straight was as far as he had gotten at this point. Still attracted to girls, but also steadily growing attracted to boys as well. But not quite bisexual? Like something felt a bit more missing.

 

Not the time for this Archie she's expecting some sort of an answer right now.

 

However, Veronica “The Savior of Everything” Lodge and some other girl, i think she's a friend of Cheryl's, decided to cut in between their conversation just then.  

 

Apparently they were invited to the Blossom Household for an after-party.

 

To which the two instantly said yes to.

 

Anything to get away from this tension.

 

….yikes.

 

So we meet up with everyone a couple of hours later. A bunch of people, including our main three, are sitting in a large circle with a bunch of other people. Other people were scattered across the mansion, the sounds of [ Tegan and Sara’s song _Boyfriend_ ](https://youtu.be/HJOHoiPGpac) drifted through the air, making you question where the hell are Cheryl’s parents right now?

Speaking of, Cheryl was the only one standing in the circle. And facing away from everybody. And she was in a different dress than the one she was wearing to the dance.

 

Not that many noticed, because it was very similar. Just shorter.

 

Anyways.

 

Archie was sitting a person or two away from Veronica, who was sitting next to Betty for comfort.

 

Betty was… upset right now, to say the least.

 

She was pissed at Archie for being an asshole, while also being pissed at herself for setting her hopes so high and expecting so much from Archie, a boy who has never once communicated a fucking emotion in his goddamn life. _God_ she was _fucking_ _stupid what the fuck man?_  

But at the same time, _Fuck Archie,_ she's a delight! Who _wouldn't_ want to date her, she's the greatest! She's supportive, nice, caring, considerate, helpful, the list goes on! Why was there any hesitation?

 

All of that went through all three of our main character's heads.

 

Especially Betty.

 

“Alright children, time to take this party up a notch.” Cheryl said with a dramatic turn towards the group, a hand placed on her hip is a stance that screamed “Lana Del Ray”.

“It's time for Seven Minutes in Heaven. And, as the host I'm picking who goes first.” She scanned the crowd for two seconds tops before she looked directly at- “Archie.”

 

Ah, so that was her plan.

 

“Oh.. uh, I don't really-” Archie tried to protest before someone hit his arm. “YES. Yes you are DOING THIS.” Reggie said, as if he had some control over anything in this series.

 

Regardless, Archie fucking agreed.

 

Because he's a dumbass.

 

Cheryl grinned evilly. “Well then, let's see who's riding the Ginger Stallion tonight.” She said in a low key seductive tone which was totally not necessary. She grabbed a bottle of scotch from the liquor cabinet and placed it on the coffee table in the middle of the circle. She gave the bottle a good ‘ol twist, and we were off and running. The bottle made this little _zip_ sound as the tag dragged around the table.

 

_Zip zip zip_

 

Hearts started to beat faster as the bottle’s pace. Betty hoped that it wasn't her. She didn't want to deal with Archie right now. But, then again, the idea of Archie being with anyone else right now was more than enough to make her angry all over again.

 

_Zip    Zip        Zip_

 

Veronica knew this was some sort of bitchy ploy to piss off Betty, and she wasn't having any of it. This was a total skank move, especially when she knew for a fact that she saw Betty yell at her. Especially when they _made eye contact_ and Cheryl did this little head nod towards Veronica to send her lackey to tell her the news. The bitchy, soulless Ginger.

 

Then again, a part of her wouldn't mind a nice moment alone with Archie to straighten him out.

 

Metaphorically, not actually turn him straight.

 

(In case you forgot, Veronica pegged both Arch and Bets as some flavor of gay basically the moment she saw them. So, Archie was actually fooling pretty much everyone other than her, at the moment.)

 

A little bonding time with her future boyfriend is always welcome as well.

 

_Zip.          Zip._

 

_Zzzzzzip_

 

Fuck.

 

The tip of the bottle stops, more or less, directly between Betty and Veronica. Just as Veronica understood how bad of an idea it would be for her and Archie to go off into a closet alone while Betty was still pissed at Archie. Because it would make her pissed at Veronica. Which is the opposite of what she wants to happen.

An even more evil grin appeared on Cheryl's sickeningly red lips.

 

“It's obviously pointing to…. The new girl.”

 

All three of their stomachs dropped with the simultaneous thought of _Fuck._

 

Everyone looked at Veronica, who decides to not scream or tear Cheryl a new one at this moment. She needed to play cool, and not sink to her standards.

 

But she really, _really_  wanted to.

 

“Um, I'm not doing this.” She said after a moment. Cheryl sighed, “Fine, but rules say that; In the event of someone chickening out, the host or the hostess takes their place.”

 

Oh. _This_ **Bitch**.

 

Veronica had to make a decision. And she had to make it quick. She looked at Betty, who was giving her a mixed look of “Don't let her touch him” or “Please, for the love of god, _don't fucking touch him_ ”. Which was making it harder to make a decision.

On one hand, she stays out, let's Cheryl go in with Archie, and they both have to deal with the almost inevitable fact that Archie is going to _be with_ Cheryl for seven minutes, and you know she'll make him do something awful. Like kiss her, or worse...

On the other hand: She goes in there, risks Betty never talking to her again, and makes herself do nothing but talk to Archie. That way, she can walk out clean and have nothing to discuss. That way Betty couldn't be mad at her.

 

She goes with the latter, and Betty tries not to look hurt as it all goes down.

 

As they both got up to leave, despite Reggie's incessant chanting of “Get sum” in the background, Veronica gave Archie a look that said “You're in the Red, and if you try anything I'll smack you. With my rings on.”

 

Archie and Veronica are put into a closet, and Archie starts a timer on his phone. He involuntarily gulped.

 

“Look I know her brother just _died_ and all, but Cheryl Blossom is seriously the Antichrist.” Veronica said quietly, in case Cheryl was somehow listening to them. Archie couldn't help but just nod along.

 

They look around themselves for a bit, not making eye contact.

 

Gods above, this is awkward. Ugh.

 

“So… How is this compared to New York?” Archie asked, trying to break this tension a bit.

“Well, there's plenty more drama here than in New York… That I'm involved in, at least.” Veronica answered diligently. Small talk. Small talk is good. “How about you? Have you lived anywhere else other than River-stale?” She said with a lot more salt than one would expect. Archie cracked a grin, “No, I've lived here my whole life.” “Hmm.. sucks for you.” Veronica said under her breath. Archie let out a bark of laughter. “It wasn't all that bad, you know. When we were kids, teens didn't drown in rivers or… well actually the rest is more or less the same. Dealing with Cheryl, accidentally pissing off Betty, teens getting shoved in a closet for seven minutes.” Archie looked at the ceiling as he recounted these moments in his childhood.

Veronica hummed gently as she leaned back. She looked at the door of the closet. Alright, lets get down to it. “Archie, do you like Betty?” She asked blatantly. Archie's face flushed immediately. “W-Well um I-uh-” “It’s a simple question Archiekins, yes or no, do you like Betty.” Veronica cut in with a bored expression.

Archie blanked. “... Um… yes.” He went with. Veronica rolled her eyes a sighed “Then why the FUCK didn't you say so?” she said kind of loudly. Archie rubbed the back of his neck is regret “I know, I know… its just…” “What, Archie? What could possibly be stopping you?” she demanded, being a bit too forceful this time. Archie felt his hands tremble a bit, so he clenched them into fists to hide it. “W-well…” he tired, unable to make the words flow. Veronica glared at him “C’mon Arch, we've only a few more minutes-”

 

“I think I'm gay.”

 

_There you go._

 

And suddenly it all was spilling out. That night with Chuck, the rest of the summer with Grundy and his songs and self loathing and hatred and confusion and _everything._ By the end of it, Archie felt like he was about to cry. “A-and I don’t even _know_  what to call my sexuality, because I still like girls but, before it went wrong I was really enjoying myself with Chuck.” Archie's voice cracked a bit. “But I know how this place isn't all that LGBT friendly even if the school is and I don't know how my dad would react or even Grundy, because she has some issues with sharing and I don't want to upset her right as she agreed to help me with my music. And I _really need my music_ and I know Betty deserves a better answer than the one I gave her but I can't make up my Goddamn Mind about it but what if she thinks less of me and never talks to me again! She's my oldest friend and-” “Archie!” Veronica stopped his train of thought.

Archie's whole body was shaking, his hands were bunched in his hair and his pupils were the size of pinpoints.

 

Okay not really pin points but they were really small okay cool good.

 

“Archie, Betty's not going to stop being friends with you if you decide you like guys instead of girls. That's ridiculous!” Veronica said with that gentle laugh people do when they're trying to reassure someone. She placed her hands on the sides of his face. “Whatever you decide to do will be the right choice for _you!_ Don't worry about anyone else. It's not their life, it's yours and you can decide how to live it and damn anyone who wants you to change because of it.” Veronica said as she made him look at her. Archie felt the pricks of tears poke at the back of his eyes as she spoke.

“And there's other options besides being gay or straight. Hell, Archie, I'm Bisexual! And in the way where it's two or more sort of way.” Veronica said carelessly. Archie's eyes widened at how easily she said said it.

“There's also the traditional bisexual, where they like identifying males and females. Or there's being a homosexual but being biromanic, or being straight and bi or homoromantic There's also pansexuality, where you like people regardless of genders… and-” “Wait, regardless of gender?” Archie asked gently. Veronica's face lit up a bit “Yeah, like it doesn't matter what they identify as, you are attracted to them because they're them. My uh.. ex-girlfriend in New York was pansexual.” She admitted, much less easily than when she talked about her own sexuality.

 

But it all was making sense to Archie now.

 

When he looked at people this summer, trying to see what he liked, he recalled focusing more on the people he thought were attractive rather than any specific gender.

 

It all made sense now.

 

_Holy shit he was pansexual._

 

HE FUCKING FIGURED IT OUT!!!

 

Archie felt like he scream he was so happy. He _finally_ had some sort of title to how he felt. Who he was. And it was better than anything else in his entire life.

Archie took Veronica's hands off of his face and scooped her up into his arms and twirled. He let out a relieved/happy/triumphant laugh as Veronica squeaked in surprise. He gently placed her back on the ground. Now he really felt like crying.

After feeling so out of place for so long, he _finally_ fit into something. Everything with Betty, Veronica, even his now growing feelings for Jughead and his odd attraction to Reggie, it all made sense. And it was all thanks to Veronica.

He beamed at her “IM PANSEXUAL!” He shouted, but not loud enough for everyone to hear. Veronica was a little astounded to see his mood change so quickly. “Sure you are!” She agreed. He gave her a quick but strong hug, just as his timer went off. He pushed them apart and looked all serious. “We gotta tell Betty.” He said as he pulled open the closet took, grabbed Veronica’s hand and pulled her to the living room.

Happy that Archie was happy, Veronica went along with it. Only realizing that they probably looked like they did some crazy shit in that closet as they approached the circle again. She was a rumpled from the spinning, and Archie's hair was a mess from his panic attack.

This also didn't occur to Archie until he heard Reggie's hollering and long “YeeeeEEEESSS” as they approached.

 

Paying it little attention, he scanned the circle for Betty. Only to find her missing.

 

“Where's Betty?” They both asked simultaneously.

 

“She left. You know, between she's really more high strung than she seems.” Cheryl said in a bitchy tone. They both glared at her, Veronica repeated “Antichrist” before the two set off to go find her.

Now they were both panicking. “Okay, so, she probably thinks we made out or something else. Which didn't happen, and thank the gods it didn't otherwise she probably would kick our asses.” Veronica said as she undid her heals with one hand so she could walk faster, her other hand still linked with Archie's. “Fuck, Ronnie, we fucked up. Where could she be??” Archie stressed as he looked around for signs of Betty. He didn't want to make Veronica fall over, or let go of her hand, so he slowed his pace. Gratefully, Veronica grabbed her shoes in one hand and started speed walking again as they looked for Betty. “Maybe Pop’s? Or maybe she the strip mall or at home or something, I don't know. But us going together to find her would be a bad idea, she probably hates us both right now.” She got in front of Archie and faced him, now walking backwards. “We'll split up. You go to Pop's, I'll go to the strip mall, and we'll let each other know if we find her. Okay?” Veronica set the plan easily, pulling out her phone to hail her cabbie. Archie nodded vigorously, looking determined now.

 

A whirl of emotions, that one.

 

“Wait, why the strip mall?” Archie asked. Veronica frowned, “Well when I get upset I like to shop, so I went with it.” “But Betty doesn't like to shop, and it's like 11pm nobody is open.” “Well fine then _Archie,_ I'll go look for her at the school. Maybe she went back to help clean or _something.”_ Veronica exaggerated a bit irritably. Archie gave her a final nod.

“Okay. Good luck.” Veronica said, turning to make her phonecall. Archie went for the door before turning around. He tapped Veronica's shoulder. When she turned, he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek “I owe you pretty much everything ever.” He said with a soft smile that had Veronica at a loss for words, unable to start talking to Smithers, who had just picked up the phone and was talking to her.

 

With a boop on the nose, Archie flug open the door and started running to Pop’s.

 

Veronica started grinning like a lovesick fool and finally answered Smithers’ questions and asked him to pick her up.

 

And off they went.

 

Off to find the Girl Next Door.

 

* * *

 

After _finally_ getting to Pop's, Archie was a bit sweaty and a bit out of breath. He had been thinking about what he would say to Betty when he found her. How he come out and respond to at least a hundred different reactions she could possibly have.  He had to come clean, and now that he had this new label, he felt ready to.

 

He pushed the doors, hoping to find the girl next door.

 

But instead, he found him.

 

Archie looked to one side of the restaurant and scanned for Betty. Seeing nothing familiar, he looked at the other side.

 

Where his eyes immediately landed on none other than Jughead Jones.

 

Archie's mind stopped dead in its tracks. He couldn't look away from Jughead's solid blue stare. As if he was looking right through him.

 

It was sort of mesmerizing.

 

_Now's not the time to get you pan side going, Archie, you're looking for someone._

 

Archie finally broke the gaze and turned his attention to Pop, who was staring at him fro? behind the desk, waiting for him to say something. “Pop, have you seen Betty tonight?” Archie asked urgently. “Nope, no Betty here. Just the night hawks in tonight.” Pop answered, gesturing vaguely at Jughead, who was trying not to look at Archie and focus back on his story. Archie felt his gaze stick to Jughead's face again, and had to force himself to look at Pop again to say some sort of thanks before walking over to his booth.

 

Speaking of apologies.

 

“Um.. Can I sit, Jughead” Archie asked, one hand already on top of the booth's back rest. Jughead's eyebrows raised in an unamused manor, then nodded towards the empty seat in front of him. “If you want.” He said in that sarcastic, cold monotone voice of his. Archie slid in.

 

They sat in silence for awhile. Awkward and full of tension. It didn't seem to both Jughead, he just kept typing as if nothing was wrong.

 

But the silence was making Archie's skin crawl.

 

“What are you writing?” Archie asked gently, trying break the quiet. “My novel.” Jughead answered diligently. “It's about this summer, and Jason Blossom.” “Seventeen years old, and how will he be remembered?” Archie commented. “As captain of the Water-polo team?” “The Aquaholics? Well, judging from how he disappeared, I would assume not.” Jughead joked with that stunning sarcasm again. Still, it make Archie chuckle. “No, I just mean… was he doing everything he was supposed to do? Everything he wanted to do, and did he even know what that was?” Archie seemed to be talking about more than just Jason. But regardless, that night he had with Jason flashed through Jughead's mind. He knew the answer, but he didn't really feel like sharing that with Archie. Not yet.

Changing the topic a bit. Jughead said “Coach Clayton was in here talking to Pop Tate not that long ago.” Jughead leaned back in his seat as he watched Archie's reactions. “He wants you on Varsity.” He said casually. Archie looked down at his lap. “What, does that make you Mr.Popular-Football-God now?” An amused half grin graced Jug’s lips.

Archie's face looked unhappy, for some reason. “No. I don't want me to change because of it. I've… changed a lot this summer already. So much so that I'm worried I lost my best friend tonight figuring things out.” He said with a sad sigh.

Feeling a bit hurt but keeping his face neutral, Jughead saved his work and closed his laptop. “If you mean Betty, just talk to her. It goes a long way, you know?” He shrugged, and looked out of their window before making direct eye contact. “It would've gone a long way with me.”

Archie felt several stabs of guilt pierce his heart and stomach. “About that, Jug… I-” “Don't.” Jughead said sharply. “Not yet. You've got more important apologies and explanations to give tonight. I'll take a number.” Jughead stood, grabbing five bucks from his pocket and placing it on the table. “See you around, football star.” and with that, Jughead left.

After a few minutes of just sitting there and contemplating everything that had happened tonight, Archie stood and left as well, leaving an extra dollar on the table for the trouble. He sent Veronica a message saying that Betty was probably at home and that she should go home too. It was best for everyone if he went alone for now on.

 

So he did.

 

And he headed home, once again, to the girl next door.

 

* * *

 

By the time he made got there, it was a bit past midnight and his legs were tired. His hair was sticking to his forehead and he would consider killing a man for a drink of water. Why didn’t he drink something at Pop’s?

 

Whatever, moving on.

 

Knowing it was late, he opted to text Betty instead of knock on the door.

 

Though knocking would make her face him, she could leave him on read with a text.

 

It was also make him face Mrs.Cooper.

 

So texting:

 

me:

Betty, come outside. Please, we need to talk.

 

BettyBop:

[✓ Read 12:04]

Alrighty lets keep going shall we? 

me:

Bets, Please. It'll be worth it I promise.

  
Betty stiffed a groan. She was laying on her bed, deleting* some pictures of her and Archie out of anger when she got Archie's texts. Should she had been so angry? Probably not, it was a choice between Veronica and Cheryl so obviously the better was Veronica. But that still doesn't change the fact that they could have been doing some very sexual things behind her back!

But would they really? Like that's such a dick thing to do, and Archie is her best friend and Veronica said that she really likes her, so why would either of them do such a thing?

They wouldn't. But.. what if?

Either way, Betty got up, wiped any tear stained makeup off of her face, and quietly made her way downstairs, still in her dress.

She carefully opened the door and walked outsides. It was cold, and the smell of rain was in the air. Archie was standing in her yard, still in his tux, but his bowtie was undone. Funny, she had a dream like this once.

“Betty,” He said breathlessly, “I'm so… so sorry-” “Stop, Archie, I can't… I can't hear that right now.” Betty interrupted. “and I don't care what happened between you and Veronica tonight. I just.. I want to know, right now, if you love me Archie? Or even like me?” her voice started strong, but got a bit shaky at the end. Her arms crossed in front of her chest.

Archie looked taken aback, but felt only guilt. How dare he make Betty feel like he didn't love her. “Of course I love you Betty, I just… I just don't know in which way.” Archie answered, though sounding slightly uncertain. Betty scoffed and rolled her eyes, hugging herself tighter. “Betty, over this summer, I've… I've changed. In a way that I couldn't put into words. I felt things for people in ways I never thought possible for me. And… I needed to get everything situated before I could even think about starting a relationship with anybody.” He looked right at her, his sweet brown eyes never breaking from her delecate face. Betty, however, refused to look at him.

“Especially you, Betty. Because if anyone ever deserved answers from me, it would be you.” He took a few steps closer to her. “Betty, I have to tell you something. Something really important.” Archie paused, hoping she would at least look at him.

Begrudgingly, she did. Betty locked her strong hazel eyes onto his. “What.” She demanded.

“I'm pansexual. I like people regardless of what gender they are. Veronica helped me figure it out while we… were..” “In the closet?” Betty finished in an unamused tone. Archie rubbed the back of his neck “See, when you say it like that it's actually kinda funny.” He tried to smile, but Betty wasn't smiling back. “So you mean to tell me that you've been contemplating your sexuality all summer, and that's why you didn't know if you could out with me?” Betty tried to clarify. Archie mulled it all over, then nodded in agreement. He winced “Are you mad?”

“Archie, I was doing the exact same thing.”

“Wait, what?” Archie exclaimed. Betty shushed him for being too loud and got a little closer to him. “Archie, when I was in New York, I totally had a crush on my internship-partner. Her name was Ashely, and she helped me figure it all out. I'm Bisexual!!” She whispered excitedly. Archie's face lit up in happiness “Oh my gods this is crazy!!” “I know!!!” Betty’s face broke out into an excited smile. Talking about her sexuality made her really happy for some reason. Like her entire life made just a little more sense now, and it felt great to finally know what it was she was missing. Betty punched Archie's chest playfully. “You could have told me you were questioning. That way we could have cleared this up days ago!” She half scolded. “I know I know, and I'm sorry.” Archie apologized. “It's fine, Arch, it really is. But… now, would you consider going out with me?” She asked timidly.

“Betty, I’d more than consider it. You're like, the best person ever. I just don't know if I'm good enough for you.” Archie admitted. Betty hummed. “Well, let's do this; we'll keep things on the down low for awhile, see how it feels being a couple, but keeping it casual. After like, two weeks or so of it, we'll see how we feel.” Betty strategized. This way, Archie didn't have to make any big commitment to them or pressure him into something he didn't want, but they could still kind of be dating. It satisfied them both.

“Sounds like a plan.” Archie said after a minute of thinking. Betty lit up completely, practically bouncing as she leaped into Archie's arms and hugged him tight around the neck. Archie snaked his arms around her waist and buried his face into the crook of her neck. “I'm so happy, Archie.” Betty whispered excitedly. “Me too.” He whispered back.

And they stood there for a minute or two, enjoying the feeling of just hugging and things being alright again. They had each other once more, and it felt like that's all they needed. It was nice, calming even.

Man, what a fucking night to remember.

Just then, Archie felt his phone vibrate between them. They separated enough so he could pull out his phone. “It's Veronica. She's probably worried about you.” Archie said as he opened the text.

Sure enough;

Ronnie:  
Have you found her yet?? Is she okay?? Is she mad at us???? What's? The? Deal????

  
Betty hummed again, leaning her head onto Archie's chest so she could read. She smiled softly “Aw, that's sweet of her.” She said happily. She let go of Archie and took a step towards her house. “I should go text her and tell her that everything's okay.” Archie nodded. She looked at her house, then back at him. “... I actually don't know what to say now.” She said with a humorously blank face. Archie chuckled and grabbed her hand. “We should probably say goodnight. It's like, way past my bedtime.” He joked, making Betty giggle and squeeze his hand. “As dorky as ever.” “You know it… but seriously though? We should go out soon and talk about what happened this summer. There's… a lot of stuff I should tell you, and I want to know more of your self discovery in New York.” Archie said as he kept glancing behind him. He had this feeling on the back of his neck, like he was being watched.

“Absolutely, we definitely should. But for now… Goodnight, Archie.” She said sweetly, giving Archie's hand one more squeeze. Archie beamed at her, “Goodnight Betty.”

And with that, Betty turned and walked back to her door, and Archie turned to head to his own house just across the street. But Betty whirled around “Wait, Archie?” She whispered loudly. Archie quickly spun around to look at her, looking a little startled. “Yeah?”

“When you get inside? You should look up the term Polyamory, and tell me how you feel about it.”

Confused, but curious, Archie gave her a dorky thumbs up. She couldn't help but giggle and blew him a kiss goodnight.

And so, the new couple retreated to their respective houses, happy and excited for the things to come.

  
Me:  
Hey, Veronica. I know it's late, but I wanted to say I'm sorry for running away after you guys went into the closet. I should have had more faith in you two. Could you ever forgive me?

Veronica:  
Forgive YOU??? B!E!T!T!Y!!! I SHOULD BE BEGGING FOR YOUR FORGIVENESS!!!! It was so dumb of me to even go along with Cheryl's stupid plans. I should have smacked her. Right in her own house. Of COURSE I forgive you, Betty, but can you forgive me??

Me:  
Of course I forgive you!!! And actually…. Everything worked out alright in the end. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow, it's so late

Goodnight!!

Veronica:  
GOODNIGHT BETTY YOU'RE THE BESTEST!!! 

*But she couldn't really delete them so she just made a folder to put them in and locked it

**Author's Note:**

> There's probably a lot of mistakes grammar and spelling wise, and the formatting kind of sucks. But you know... Fuck it. 
> 
> If you like it, let me know. If you don't, you don't gotta keep reading.
> 
> Lit.


End file.
